美國太陽能企業希望提高關稅打擊中國黑客
In the daunting battle against corporate online espionage worldwide, one major solar company wants to deploy a powerful and novel weapon: higher tariffs.
在抗擊全球商業網絡間諜活動的艱鉅鬥爭中，一家大型太陽能企業希望能動用一件強大的新型武器：更高的進口關稅。SolarWorld Americas, the largest manufacturer of solar panels in the United States, has asked the Commerce Department to investigate claims that Chinese military personnel broke into the company’s computers and stole documents important to its business and its long-running trade dispute with China.
這家太陽能世界工業（美國）公司(SolarWorld Americas)是美國最大的太陽能組件生產企業。公司已提請商務部調查自己提起的指控，即中國軍方人員攻入了它的計算機系統，盜取了與公司業務及其同中國之間的長期貿易糾紛有關的關鍵資料。The company’s request followed the Justice Department’s decision to prosecute five members of the People’s Liberation Army, accusing them in May of stealing online files from a group of American companies, most of which had engaged in trade disputes with China.
此前，美國司法部於今年5月決定起訴中國人民解放軍的五名成員，指控他們盜取一系列美國企業的網絡文件，其中多數公司存在與中國的貿易糾紛。
SolarWorld says the new prosecution underscores the sophisticated ways that Chinese companies are retaliating against trade obstacles, especially the use of cyberwarfare.
太陽能世界表示，這樁新的訴訟突顯了中國企業報復貿易屏障時手法之老道，尤其是還發動了網絡戰。As a deterrent, the company is proposing that the administration should use tariffs to crack down on such retribution.
爲了加以震懾，公司提請奧巴馬政府動用關稅手段來打壓這種報復行徑。“We think it is critically important that the Commerce Department set a precedent here and take a strong stand that it will not tolerate cyberhacking of U.S. companies that file trade cases,” said Timothy C. Brightbill, a lawyer representing SolarWorld.
“我們認爲至關重要的是，商務部要在本案中創下先例，立場堅定地表明，不會容忍針對提起貿易案的美國企業實施網絡間諜活動，”太陽能世界的代理律師蒂莫西·C·布萊特比爾(Timothy C. Brightbill)說。While acknowledging that the Justice Department is unlikely to compel the suspects to appear in a United States courtroom, he said the federal government could impose additional steep tariffs on imports of Chinese solar panels. “This is a way that the U.S. could actually make it hurt,” Mr. Brightbill said.
儘管承認司法部不大可能迫使嫌疑人出現在美國的法庭上，他表示聯邦政府能夠做到對進口的中國太陽能組件加徵高額關稅。“通過這種方式，美國能讓對方真正付出代價，”布萊特比爾說。
A broader investigation by the Commerce Department into the costs of solar panels divided the industry from its start. Domestic solar farm developers and installers of solar systems, whose businesses had benefited from an abundance of cheap imported equipment, worried that the passed-on costs of tariffs would slow solar adoption among consumers.
從一開始，美國商務部針對太陽能組件成本啓動的大型調查就讓這一行業陷入分裂。美國的太陽能電廠開發商和太陽能系統安裝企業得益於廉價進口設備的充足供應。二者擔心，關稅帶來的成本轉嫁會放慢消費者使用太陽能的步伐。And American companies exporting polysilicon, the main raw material for solar products, to China feared that tariffs would make it harder for them to do business there. Indeed, China imposed steep duties on American polysilicon at the beginning of this year and recently tightened import policies on the material.
此外，對中國出口多晶硅的美國公司也擔心，加徵關稅會讓它們在中國的生意更難做。而太陽能產品主要的原材料正是多晶硅。實際上，中國已在今年初對美國產多晶硅加徵了高額關稅，並於近期收緊了該原材料的進口政策。Still, many executives and officials have been frustrated in trying to hold Chinese companies accountable for what they see as unfair or unscrupulous business practices. A federal judge recently found a state-controlled Chinese drywall manufacturer, Taishan Gypsum Company, in criminal and civil contempt after it abruptly abandoned court proceedings five years into a case that found it liable for contaminated drywall used in the homes of seven Virginia families.
儘管如此，美國政商兩界的許多高級官員一直在爲如何讓中國企業承擔責任而頗爲頭疼。在他們看來，中國企業採用的是不公平或不道德的商業手法。一名聯邦法官近期判決，中國的國有幹板牆生產商泰山石膏股份有限公司犯有刑事與民事類的藐視法庭罪，理由是公司突然停止參與一樁進行了五年的訴訟案的法律程序。案件認定，這家企業要爲弗吉尼亞州七戶人家使用的有毒幹板牆負責。Senator Bill Nelson, Democrat of Florida, said he believed the implications of the case went far beyond drywall.
來自佛羅里達州的民主黨聯邦參議員比爾·尼爾森(Bill Nelson)表示，他認爲本案的意義遠遠超出了幹板牆的範疇。“It poses a defining moment for the Chinese government and its companies, which raises grave questions as to the risk of doing business with the Chinese,” Senator Nelson said in July on the Senate floor. “Will the Chinese government and its companies honor their moral and legal obligations under this or any other commercial contract?”
“這是考驗中國政府和中國企業本質的時刻，就與中國做生意的風險提出了重大疑問，”尼爾森今年7月在參議院發言稱。“不管是在這項商務合同，或是其他合同中，中國政府和公司會不會信守道德和法律義務？”In the case of online crime, corporations across many industries are frequently reluctant to cooperate with prosecutions, said Shawn Henry, president of CrowdStrike Services, a security technology and services company, and a former executive assistant director of the F.B.I. They worry that publicizing security breaches risks their reputation and erodes competitive advantages, as well as opening the door to lawsuits.
安全技術與服務公司CrowdStrike的總裁肖恩·亨利(Shawn Henry)稱，在網絡犯罪案件中，有衆多行業的公司常常不願與檢方合作。亨利曾在聯邦調查局(FBI)擔任常務助理局長。企業擔心，公開安全缺口可能有損自身名譽、削弱競爭優勢，並會打開訴訟的大門。The threat of trade sanctions, Mr. Henry said, could offer the government a rare way to thwart hacking schemes before they happen.
亨利認爲，威脅動用貿易制裁可以讓美國政府擁有一樣提前阻止網絡攻擊活動的罕見武器。“The value to the Chinese government and the companies that are benefiting from these thefts of intellectual property is in the billions of dollars, and the penalties or the risk is almost zero,” he said. “There aren’t any mechanisms to hold anyone accountable.”
“中國政府和企業從這些知識產權盜竊活動中賺取的錢財數以億計，而受到的懲罰和其中的風險幾乎爲零，”他說。“目前完全不存在能將任何人繩之以法的機制。”It is not clear how or if the Commerce Department will proceed; officials there declined to comment beyond saying that they were reviewing the request. Also uncertain is whether the White House, which is struggling to balance promoting the spread of green energy and protecting domestic manufacturing, would support the use of tariffs in such cases. A Justice Department spokesman, Marc Raimondi, said that the administration “embraces an all-tools approach to these types of crimes.”
尚不明朗的是，商務部是否將推進此事，以及如何推進。部門官員僅表示正在審覈這一申請，除此之外不予置評。同樣不清楚的是，苦於在促進綠色能源推廣與保護國內製造業之間取得平衡的白宮，是否會支持在此類案件中動用關稅手段。司法部發言人馬克·雷蒙迪(Marc Raimondi)稱，政府“歡迎在應對這類犯罪時多管齊下”。“It’s not just a criminal justice solution,” Mr. Raimondi said. “There are a number of different tools that can be used to target this type of criminal activity.”
“不光可以動用刑事司法解決手段，”雷蒙迪說。“還有多種不同的工具可以用於打擊此類犯罪活動。”Trade officials would first have to open an inquiry into how SolarWorld had been harmed and how the Chinese-owned solar companies — unnamed in the Justice Department indictment — had benefited, in order to impose additional duties on imports from those companies. If the Chinese government or companies decline to respond to information requests, the department can use other facts, including those presented by the other side in making a determination, trade lawyers said.
貿易官員必須首先啓動調查，針對的是太陽能世界受侵害的情況，以及中國太陽能企業——司法部的訴狀中未公佈具體名稱——從中受益的情況，然後才能對來自這些企業的進口商品加徵關稅。貿易律師表示，倘若中國政府或公司拒絕提供相關信息，商務部可以在作出裁決時採信其他事實，比如提出申請的一方呈交的證據。Even if the Commerce Department does not open an investigation, trade experts say, the SolarWorld request and the Justice Department indictment are bringing needed attention to a government that is more aggressive than others have been in trying to promote its industries.
貿易專家表示，就算商務部決定不啓動調查，太陽能世界提出的要求和司法部的正式起訴，也將必要的關注聚焦到了中國政府身上。在努力提升本國產業上，中國政府的咄咄逼人姿態比起別國來可謂尤爲突出。“The Chinese have taken their efforts on behalf of their economy — and a lot of them are state-owned enterprises, a lot of them are state-supported — to a level that I think most people within the trade area haven’t seen,” said Paul C. Rosenthal, a lawyer at Kelley Drye in Washington. “It needs to be addressed, and there need to be better remedies available to address it.”
“中國以經濟爲名進行了種種嘗試，很多受益者是國有或受到國家支持的企業。這種活動的程度之深，我想是貿易領域的多數人前所未見的，”在華盛頓執業的凱利律師事務所(Kelley Drye)律師保羅·C·羅森塔爾(Paul C. Rosenthal)說。“這個問題需要得到正視，需要有更好的補救措施來加以應對。”
