美國起訴中國對自美進口汽車超額徵稅

The US will challenge Chinese duties imposed on imported American vehicles, in a counter-strike timed to coincide with Barack's Obama's tour of manufacturing states that will be pivotal in the presidential election.

美國政府將就中國對自美國進口的汽車徵收超額關稅一事提出訴訟，此舉意在回擊共和黨針對其對華態度的指責。這一訴訟恰逢巴拉克•奧巴馬(Barack Obama)在製造業州展開競選巡遊。能否贏得製造業州選民的支持對於美國總統競選至關重要。

The "enforcement action" allows the US to demand formal consultations with China at the World Trade Organisation in Geneva.

通過採取該"強制行動"，美國可要求與中國在世貿組織(WTO)舉行正式磋商。世貿組織總部位於日內瓦。

Mitt Romney, Mr Obama's Republican challenger, has accused him of not standing up to China on trade. Mr Obama told crowds in Ohio: "As long as we are competing on a fair playing field, we are doing just fine – and I am going to make sure the competition is fair," China's rise is looming as an important election factor in industrial states, where the Asian giant is often depicted as an unfair trader that is hollowing out local manufacturing.

奧巴馬的競選對手、共和黨人米特•羅姆尼(Mitt Romney)此前指責奧巴馬在貿易問題上對中國態度不夠強硬。奧巴馬在俄亥俄州的競選巡遊活動中表示："只要我們是在公平的環境下參與競爭，我們就能夠做得不錯——而我將確保國際貿易競爭是公平的。"中國的崛起正成爲影響製造業州選情的重要因素。在這些州的選民看來，中國作爲一個不夠公平的貿易對手正在掏空當地製造業。

In a television advertisement tailored for Ohio last month, Mr Romney promised to declare Beijing "a currency manipulator" on his first day in office. A spokeswoman for Mr Romney said: "Candidate Obama may talk a tough game on standing up to China and fighting for American manufacturing, but President Obama just hasn't delivered. China continues to play by its own rules."

在上月專門針對俄亥俄州製作的一條競選電視廣告中，羅姆尼承諾，自己一旦成爲美國總統，將立刻把中國列爲"匯率操縱國"。羅姆尼的一位發言人表示："四年前作爲總統候選人的奧巴馬曾承諾會對中國採取強硬立場並努力維護美國製造業的利益，但他在擔任總統後卻未能兌現承諾。中國現在依然我行我素。"

Both Ohio and neighbouring Michigan depend on the car industry, large parts of which were rescued by the administration in 2009. Mr Romney opposed a bailout of GM and Chrysler, saying they should have gone through bankruptcy procedures for private companies. The Obama administration argues that no private money was available at the time.

汽車業是俄亥俄州和鄰近的密歇根州的支柱產業。2009年，奧巴馬政府對主要汽車廠商進行了紓困。那時，羅姆尼反對紓困通用汽車(GM)和克萊斯勒(Chrysler)，稱兩者應走完私營企業的破產程序；而奧巴馬政府則認爲，當時情境下私人部門資金嚴重不足。

The US maintains that China imposed the duties without sufficient evidence of wrongdoing and did not substantiate claims of injury to China's industry.

美國在向WTO提出的訴訟中稱，中國在對自美國進口的汽車徵收超額關稅一事上，既缺乏足夠證據證明美國汽車企業存在違規行爲，也無法證明中國汽車工業受到了損害。