中国成美国参议院TPP争论核心

WASHINGTON — A heated dispute over how to challenge China on currency policy has imperiled a trade bill that has become President Obama’s top legislative priority, uniting even the president’s top Democratic supporters against taking up the bill in the Senate.

华盛顿——围绕如何在货币政策上挑战中国的激烈争论，威胁到了一项已经是奥巴马总统立法重头戏的贸易法案，连总统在民主党的高层支持者都联合起来，反对在参议院考虑该法案。

Senator Mitch McConnell, Republican of Kentucky and the majority leader, vowed to press forward with a vote Tuesday afternoon to begin debating legislation granting the president “fast-track” negotiating authority to complete a major trade deal with 11 Pacific Rim nations. But Democrats say they will filibuster the measure unless it is combined with a separate customs enforcement bill that would crack down on currency manipulation.

来自肯塔基州的共和党人、参议院多数党领袖米奇·麦康奈尔(Mitch McConnell)誓称要推动在周二下午举行投票，开始讨论为与11个太平洋沿岸国家达成一项重要的贸易协议，而授予总统“快速通道”谈判权的法律。但民主党称，他们会对该法案采取拖延战术，除非它与另外一项打击货币操纵行为的海关执法法案结合在一起。

Both sides say the vote will be close, but absent a breakthrough in negotiations, the 60-vote threshold will be difficult to meet. At the root of the dispute is China, which is not even a party to the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the trade agreement Mr. Obama hopes to make a capstone of his administration.

双方皆表示表决结果会颇为接近，但鉴于谈判未取得突破，60票支持的门槛将难以达到。争论的根源，是甚至都不是跨太平洋伙伴关系协定（Trans Pacific Partnership，简称TPP）成员的中国。奥巴马希望，该贸易协议能成为他领导的政府的最高成就。

Voting to proceed to the measure on trade promotion “is saying this bill is worthy of debate,” Mr. McConnell pleaded on the Senate floor Monday, promising that senators could add amendments.

投票表决以便继续这项贸易推动议案，“意味着这项法案值得讨论”，麦康奈尔周一在参议院表示，承诺参议员会添加修订内容。

But opponents sensed the momentum was on their side.

但反对者感觉到形势正在向他们一方倾斜。

“We’re going to win,” said Senator Sherrod Brown, Democrat of Ohio, who has led the effort to demand trade promotion authority be considered only with other measures on trade enforcement and assistance for workers dislocated by trade accords.

“我们会赢，”来自俄亥俄州的民主党参议员谢罗德·布朗(Sherrod Brown)说。布朗领导了一项行动，要求只有和被贸易协议扰乱了的贸易执法及劳工援助法案在一起时，才考虑贸易促进权。

The customs bill in question has created a stew of conflict over issues as varied as child labor and enforcement of import duties. Candy makers want to preserve a loophole — closed in the customs bill — that allows them to import African cocoa harvested by child labor. Automakers are demanding the inclusion of a tough measure allowing companies to challenge trading partners that they say artificially depress the value of their currency to raise the price of American imports and lower the cost of their exports.

正在考虑中的海关法案，在童工和进口关税征收等一众问题上引发了冲突。糖果制造商想保留一个漏洞。该漏洞允许他们进口由童工收获的非洲可可粉，但海关法案将这个漏洞堵上了。汽车制造商要求加入一项严厉的措施，允许他们挑战贸易伙伴。他们称，相关贸易伙伴在人为压低自己国家货币的价值，以提升美国进口商品的价格，降低自己的出口成本。

Republicans accuse Democrats of reneging on their promise to move forward on trade promotion authority on the condition that it is linked only with a measure expanding assistance to workers displaced by economic globalization. Democrats say Republicans coaxed them into putting their most desired trade measures into a bill that is now being dumped.

共和党指责民主党食言。民主党曾承诺推动贸易促进权，条件只是和一项法案捆绑在一起。该法案的内容是扩大对那些因经济全球化而无家可归的工人的援助。民主党称，共和党诱骗他们将最渴望的贸易措施写进了一项正在被扔下的法案里。

Trade promotion authority would give allow the president to complete the Pacific deal, knowing that any final accord could still be voted down by Congress but could not be amended. Mr. Obama has repeatedly framed the Pacific accord as a way to counter China’s rising power in Asia, giving countries like Malaysia, Brunei, Japan, Singapore and Vietnam an economic alliance that would be a counterweight to China’s increasingly assertive policies in the region.

任何最终协定都有可能被国会否决，且无法进行修订，有鉴于此，贸易促进权将让总统可以完成跨太平洋协定。奥巴马多次强调，面对中国在亚洲的实力日渐崛起，跨太平洋协定将是一种反制，能让马来西亚、文莱、日本、新加坡和越南等国结成经济联盟，制衡中国在该地区越来越强势的政策。

But a bipartisan coalition, including Mr. Brown, and Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina, is challenging the administration to do far more.

但包括布朗和来自南卡罗来纳州的共和党参议员林赛·格雷厄姆(Lindsey Graham)在内的两党联盟，正在要求奥巴马政府做出更多努力。

“If the White House and our foreign policy community were so interested in dealing with China, we would have been much more aggressive in passing a currency bill that would allow us to go toe to toe on these issues,” Mr. Brown said. “We’re doing none of that.”

“如果白宫和外交政策界真的对应对中国这么感兴趣，我们就应该更强硬地通过一项货币法案，让我们得以在这些问题上针锋相对，”布朗说。“但我们现在什么都没做。”

The coalition has told the White House there will be no trade promotion authority bill without a provision aimed at China’s currency policies.

该联盟告诉白宫，如果不制定针对中国货币政策的规定，贸易促进权法案就不会获得通过。

“I have said to them for three to four months, if you do currency alongside T.P.A. but at same time, it would help your cause,” said Senator Charles E. Schumer, Democrat of New York.

纽约州民主党参议员查尔斯·E·舒默(Charles E. Schumer)表示，“我在过去三到四个月的时间里一直在跟他们说，如果把贸易促进权与货币政策捆绑在一起，但是是同时，会有助于你们达成目标。”

But senior administration officials remain opposed to the senators’ solution, a measure that would require the Commerce Department to investigate currency policy after a complaint is filed, then impose duties to raise the cost of an imported good to counter currency manipulation.

但高级政府官员依然反对参议员们提出的解决方案，这项法案会要求商务部(Commerce Department)在收到投诉后对货币政策开展调查，然后征税，增加进口商品的成本，抑制汇率操纵行为。

Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker called it “a terrible idea,” even though it would bolster the authority of her cabinet agency.

商务部长彭妮·普利茨克(Penny Pritzker)称这是一个“糟糕的主意”，尽管这会巩固其内阁机构的权力。

“There’s one authority over our currency,” she said. “We should strengthen Treasury. We should not dilute this by having more than one department responsible for currency.”

“我们有一个负责货币政策的权力机构，”她说。“我们应该加强财政部的权力。我们不应该设置更多负责货币政策的部门，削弱财政部的权力。”

Josh Earnest, the White House press secretary, said any measure to counter a foreign power’s currency policies could backfire, undermining the Federal Reserve Board, which uses the flow of currency to tighten or loosen economic growth in the United States.

白宫新闻发言人乔希·欧内斯特(Josh Earnest)表示，任何针对外国货币政策的法案都会产生事与愿违的效果，削弱联邦储备委员会(Federal Reserve Board)的权力，美联储利用货币流量收紧或放宽美国的经济增长。

More to the point, Republicans say, a tough currency measure attached to trade promotion authority would doom the Pacific trade accord, scaring away important countries like Japan and Malaysia in a misguided jab at China.

共和党人表示，更重要的是，与推动贸易促进权进行捆绑的强硬的货币政策，会影响亚太贸易协定的签订，这种对中国的打击是不得要领的，会将日本、马来西亚等重要国家吓跑。

“Is the goal to get T.P.A. done, or is it to crush the president’s trade agenda?” asked a Republican aide on the Senate Finance Committee.

参议院财政委员会(Senate Finance Committee)的一名共和党助手问道，“目标是获得贸易促进权，还是破坏总统的贸易议程呢？”

The customs bill in question is multifaceted. Besides the currency measure, it includes the creation of an interagency trade enforcement center and a system to respond faster to unfair trade practices like the dumping of exports at prices below the cost of production. Another provision would require the Customs and Border Protection agency to expeditiously investigate allegations of customs duty evasion. Still another would close a 75-year-old loophole that allows the importation of goods made by child labor if a company cannot find those goods elsewhere.

正在讨论中的海关法案是一项多层面的法案。除了货币举措，该法案还要求创建一个跨部门贸易执法中心和对不公平交易行为立即作出回应的系统，比如以低于生产成本的价格出口产品的倾销行为。另一项规定会要求联邦海关与边境保护局(Customs and Border Protection agency)立即对逃税指控开展调查。还有一项规定会要求修补存在了75年的漏洞，即允许进口由童工生产的产品，如果公司无法从其他地方获得商品的话。

Candy makers are opposing that last provision on the novel ground that it would kill Ghana’s cocoa trade.

糖果生产商提出了一个新奇的理由反对最后一项规定，称这会毁掉与加纳的可可豆交易。

But as the trade legislation becomes more complex, so does the task of winning approval. Outside conservative groups like Heritage Action for America, the political arm of the Heritage Foundation, have generally stayed quiet on trade promotion authority, torn between their support for free trade and their distrust of Mr. Obama. Now they are encouraging opposition if trade promotion authority is linked to trade adjustment assistance, which they oppose as a waste of federal tax dollars.

但随着这项贸易立法变得越来越复杂，促使法案获得通过的任务也变得愈发复杂。美国遗产行动(Heritage Action for America)——美国传统基金会(Heritage Foundation)的政治部门——等外部的保守派组织通常在贸易促进权问题上保持沉默，左右为难，一边支持自由贸易，一边又不信任奥巴马。如果将贸易促进权与贸易调整援助计划捆绑在一起，他们会鼓动大家反对，他们反对该援助计划，称这是在浪费纳税人的钱。

“Heritage Action has always been a free trade organization, but free-market conservatives are understandably split on this president’s request for fast-track authority. Including an egregiously ineffective welfare program in a bill intended to promote trade will only exacerbate the problem,” Michael A. Needham, the group’s chief executive said Monday.

该组织总干事迈克尔·A·尼达姆(Michael A. Needham)在周一表示，“遗产行动组织一直是一个自由贸易组织，但支持自由市场的保守派，在总统要求获得快速通道授权的问题上出现了分歧，这是可以理解的。将一个极其无效的福利项目纳入旨在推动贸易的法案，只会加剧问题。”

If Democrats bring down the procedural motion to proceed to trade, both sides say that is not likely to be the last word. Negotiations have already begun on a broader trade bill that could include some currency provision, perhaps weaker than the one in the disputed customs measure.

如果民主党人否决这项程序动议，以便继续开展贸易的话，双方都表示这不可能是定论。相关方面已经就一项更加广泛的贸易法案开展谈判，其中包括一些与货币有关的规定，这些规定的力度或许不及存在争议的海关法案。