贸易问题上,特朗普雷声大雨点小

WASHINGTON — President Trump keeps firing verbal broadsides at Mexico and China, but so far his new administration has not acted to keep specific campaign promises about trade policy.

华盛顿——特朗普总统一直在嘴上炮轰墨西哥和中国，但迄今为止，他的新政府尚未采取行动，兑现竞选期间做出的有关贸易政策的明确承诺。

Mr. Trump did not declare China a “currency manipulator” on his first day in office, as he had vowed, nor has he after his first month. Steven Mnuchin, the Treasury secretary, said on Thursday that his department was conducting a standard biannual review of the currency practices of China and other trading partners.

特朗普没有像他起誓的那样，在上台第一天宣布中国是“汇率操纵国”，上台一个月后也没有。美国财政部长史蒂文·努钦(Steven Mnuchin)在周四表示，财政部正在对中国和其他贸易伙伴的汇率政策进行标准的一年两次的评估。

Mr. Trump also has not initiated the renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement with Mexico and Canada, something he promised to “immediately pursue.”

特朗普也没有就《北美自由贸易协定》（North American Free Trade Agreement）与墨西哥和加拿大重新进行谈判。他曾承诺“立即着手”此事。

“There’s definitely a huge gap between rhetoric and reality,” said Chad P. Bown, a senior fellow and specialist on trade policy at the Peterson Institute for International Economics.

“言论和现实之间肯定存在巨大差距，”彼得森国际经济研究所(Peterson Institute for International Economics)的高级研究员、贸易政策专家查德·P·鲍恩(Chad P. Bown)说。

Mr. Trump made trade one of his signature issues during the campaign, excoriating what he described as failed policies that have allowed foreign countries, notably China and Mexico, to profit at Americans’ expense. And he has not changed his tune since he moved into the White House.

竞选期间，特朗普让贸易成了他的标志性化话题之一，斥责他口中失败的政策，称其使外国，尤其是中国和墨西哥以美国的利益为代价获利。入主白宫后，他并未改口。

“Take a look at Nafta, one of the worst deals ever made by any country having to do with economic development,” Mr. Trump told the cheering crowd on Friday at the Conservative Political Action Conference, held just outside Washington. “It’s economic undevelopment, as far as our country is concerned.”

“看看《北美自由贸易协定》，它是所有国家签订的经济发展协议中最糟糕的之一，”特朗普周五在华盛顿郊区举行的保守派政治行动会议(Conservative Political Action Conference)上对欢呼的人群说。“就我国而言，是经济不发展。”

Mr. Trump has fulfilled one campaign promise on trade, signing an order to withdraw the United States from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a unsigned deal that the Obama administration negotiated with Pacific Rim nations but had not submitted to Congress for approval.

特朗普兑现了竞选期间做出的其中一个贸易承诺，签署了美国退出“跨太平洋伙伴关系协定”(Trans-Pacific Partnership，简称TPP)的命令。该协定尚未签署，是奥巴马政府同太平洋沿岸国家达成，但还未提交国会，获得后者的批准。

But the absence of clear action on China and Mexico is striking, both because Mr. Trump’s language remains so bellicose and because the administration has moved quickly to keep many of the other campaign promises that it made.

未对中国和墨西哥采取明确行动这一点颇为显眼，这既是因为特朗普的语言依然非常强硬，也是因为特朗普政府已经为兑现竞选期间的其他承诺而采取了迅速的行动。

The “Contract with the American Voter” that Mr. Trump announced in October has proved in most respects an accurate guide to the first month of his presidency.

特朗普10月宣布的“与美国选民的约定”，在大多数方面证明是他第一个月总统任期的精确指南。

Mr. Trump has nominated a conservative judge to the Supreme Court and announced a freeze on federal hiring. He has reversed some Obama-era regulations and sharply shifted the government’s policies on immigration. The White House is pressing Congress to approve a new health care plan and overhaul the tax code.

特朗普提名一位保守派法官进入最高法院，并宣布冻结联邦政府的雇用。他撤销了奥巴马时期的部分规定，并大幅调整了政府的移民政策。白宫正在向国会施压，要求批准一个新的医疗保健计划，并改革税法。

Trade policy has emerged as perhaps the most notable exception.

贸易政策或许是最值得关注的例外。

Mr. Trump’s views on trade diverge widely from the mainstream of the Republican Party, more so than on any other issue of economic policy. And some Republicans were quick to warn Mr. Trump against protectionist measures, fearing they could damage American economic growth.

特朗普在贸易问题上的观点与共和党的主流观点分歧很大，比在其他任何经济政策问题上的分歧都大。部分共和党人迅速警告特朗普不要采取保护主义措施，担心这可能会破坏美国的经济增长。

“The main point I wanted to convey is that regardless of what action the incoming president takes on trade, he and his advisers should consider the effects on agriculture,” Senator Charles E. Grassley, Republican of Iowa, declared last month after meeting with Robert E. Lighthizer, Mr. Trump’s choice to be chief trade negotiator. “I expect the new administration to work hard to maintain existing markets for Iowa and other farm states’ exports and open new markets as well.”

“我想表达的主要观点是，不管新总统在贸易问题上采取什么行动，他和他的顾问都应该考虑对农业的影响，”艾奥瓦州共和党参议员查尔斯·E·格拉斯利(Charles E. Grassley)上月在同特朗普挑选的首席贸易谈判代表罗伯特·E·莱特希泽(Robert E. Lighthizer)举行完会面后说。“我希望新政府努力保持艾奥瓦州和其他农业州现有的市场，同时开辟新市场。”

Another farm state Republican, Senator Ben Sasse of Nebraska, this week celebrated the 200th anniversary of the publication of David Ricardo’s economic theory of comparative advantage, which shows that trade between two nations benefits both. “It’s still brilliant & beautiful,” Mr. Sasse wrote on Twitter. He suggested in a second post that parents should read Ricardo to their children.

另一名来自农业州的共和党人、内布拉斯加州参议员本·萨瑟(Ben Sasse)本周庆祝大卫·李嘉图(David Ricardo)的比较优势经济理论发表200周年。该理论显示，贸易对双方都有利。“它依然耀眼美丽，”萨瑟在Twitter上写道。他在另一篇帖子中建议家长给孩子读李嘉图的著作。

Mr. Trump said during the presidential campaign that he would declare China a currency manipulator on “Day 1” of his administration. He reiterated that commitment in his “Contract with the American Voter,” which said, “I will direct the secretary of the Treasury to label China a currency manipulator.”

特朗普在总统竞选期间称，他会在上台“第一天”宣布中国是汇率操纵国。在“与美国选民的约定”中，他重申了这一承诺，称“我会指示财政部长将中国列为汇率操纵国”。

And on Thursday, Mr. Trump reiterated his longstanding view of China in an interview with Reuters. “I think they’re the grand champions at manipulation of currency,” Mr. Trump said, adding, “We’ll see what happens.”

周四，特朗普在接受路透社(Reuters)的采访时重申了自己一直以来对中国的观点。“我认为他们是操纵汇率的大赢家，”特朗普说道，并接着表示，“接下来会怎样，我们拭目以待。”

But Mr. Mnuchin had already made clear hours earlier that the administration did not intend for anything to happen, at least immediately.

但几个小时前，努钦已明确表示联邦政府不打算采取任何行动，至少眼下不会。

In a televised interview with CNBC, Mr. Mnuchin said that China’s currency practices would be evaluated on the same schedule as those of other American trading partners. The Treasury publishes biannual reports on April 15 and October 15.

在接受CNBC的电视转播采访时，努钦称会按照相同的日程安排评估中国和美国其他贸易伙伴的汇率政策。财政部在4月15日和10月15日发布一年两次的报告。

“We have a process within Treasury where we go through and look at currency manipulation across the board,” he said. “We’ll go through that process. We’ll do that as we have in the past. We’re not making any judgments until we continue that process.”

“财政部内部有一个从整体上评估汇率操纵的程序，”他说。“我们会走这个程序，会遵循以前的惯例。在继续这个程序之前，我们不会做出任何判断。”

Specialists in currency policy say that they see no evidence that China is suppressing the value of its currency to increase exports, as it did in previous decades.

汇率政策专家称，他们没有发现中国像过去几十年那样，为了增加出口而压低自己货币价值的证据。

The White House and the Treasury Department did not respond to requests for comment.

白宫和财政部未回复记者的置评请求。

If the United States determines that China is manipulating its currency, a step the Treasury last took in 1994, the government would seek to reach an agreement with China, but could eventually impose tariffs on Chinese imports.

如果美国断定中国操纵汇率——就像1994年那样，政府便会争取同中国达成协议，但最终也可能会对来自中国的进口商品征收关税。

One reason for the stuttering start may be the paucity of administration officials. Mr. Trump has said that Wilbur Ross, his nominee for commerce secretary, will lead the renegotiation of Nafta and play a major role on trade policy. But Mr. Ross is awaiting Senate confirmation. A vote is scheduled for Monday.

开局不顺的一个原因或许是联邦政府官员人手不足。特朗普曾表示，他提名的商务部长人选威尔伯·罗斯(Wilbur Ross)将领导就《北美自由贸易协定》重新展开谈判，并在贸易政策上扮演重要角色。但罗斯目前正在等待参议院的确认。投票定于周一举行。

The Senate Finance Committee has yet to schedule a hearing on the nomination of Mr. Lighthizer, a Washington lawyer, as chief trade negotiator.

参议院财政委员会(Senate Finance Committee)尚未就华盛顿律师莱特希泽提名为首席贸易谈判代表一事安排听证会。