中國鋁出口激增 美國工會請願要求提高關稅

HONG KONG — An American labor union plans to push the United States to impose broad, steep tariffs on aluminum imports using a little-used but wide-ranging trade law that has riled the country’s trading partners in the past.

香港——一個美國勞工工會計劃援引某條鮮少使用，但管制範圍十分廣泛的貿易法規，以促使美國政府對進口鋁全面開徵高額關稅。這條法規在過去曾令美國的貿易伙伴十分惱怒。

The effort by the United Steelworkers union comes with trade increasingly an election-year issue in the United States and elsewhere. More than three-quarters of the United States aluminum smelting industry that existed five years ago will have been idled or shut down permanently by this summer as imports have surged, according to the union’s legal petition.

伴隨着美國鋼鐵工人聯合會(United Steelworkers union)的這種做法，貿易已日益成爲了美國和世界其他地區的選舉年話題。根據該工會提交的法律請願書所述，因爲鋁進口量激增的緣故，五年前還在美國國內運轉的鍊鋁相關產業中，有超過四分之三將在今年夏季或之前遭到閒置或永久關閉。

The union blames China’s rising exports, though if successful its effort would also affect American imports from Canada and many other countries.

雖然該工會指控的是中國有增無減的鋁出口量，要是他們的請願成功的話，也會影響到加拿大與其他許多國家對美國的鋁出口。

The union and its law firm said that they plan on Monday to file the petition, which covers raw aluminum imports, with an American trade panel. The petition invokes Section 201 of the 1974 Trade Act. The section was last invoked by President George W. Bush in 2001 to start a legal process that led to American tariffs on steel imports the following year.

該工會與其委任律師事務所表示，他們計劃在週一向美國一個貿易審查委員會遞交這份涵蓋了進口鋁等事宜的請願書。該請願書援引的是1974年的《美國貿易法》(1974 Trade Act)的第201條。這項條款上回被引用是在2001年、美國總統喬治‧W‧布什(George W. Bush)爲了在翌年對進口鋼鐵加收關稅，而要推動法律程序的時候。

A Section 201 case covers essentially all imports of a product from all over the world. That makes it more controversial than anti-subsidy and anti-dumping cases against imports from a single country. The European Union objected to President Bush’s use of Section 201, which resulted in American tariffs on a wide range of steel products, until the administration dropped them in late 2003.

基本上，201條款的管制範圍可涵蓋某產品自世界各地的所有進口，使得該條款比針對單一國家進口產品的反補貼或反傾銷案更具爭議。歐盟就曾反對布什總統引用201條款；此舉使美國得以對大量鋼鐵產品課稅，直到美國政府在2003年底取消這些關稅爲止。

But Section 201 cases are also harder to win. They require proof that a domestic industry has been “seriously injured” by imports, a harder test than the mere proof of “injury” from imports that is required for other trade cases.

不過，援引201條款的貿易案也更難過關。請願方必須證明某國內產業持續遭到同類型進口產品的“嚴重傷害”，此一標準比僅需證明產業受到進口產品“傷害”的其他案件來得更爲嚴苛。

Terence P. Stewart, the managing partner of the law firm Stewart and Stewart and the lead lawyer on the aluminum case, contended that raw aluminum could meet the test. “The domestic industry is disappearing before our eyes,” he said. ”Quick relief and addressing the underlying imbalance between global supply and demand are essential if we are going to have any industry left.”

斯圖爾特與斯圖爾特律師事務所(Stewart and Stewart)的執行合夥人泰倫斯‧斯圖爾特(Terence P. Stewart)是該請願案的主要律師，他聲稱鋁進口能夠符合該條款所要求的標準。“本土的鍊鋁業正在大家眼前消失，”斯圖爾特表示。“如果我們還想讓任何鍊鋁業者存活下去，儘快解除進口壓力、着手處理背後的全球供需失衡問題是當務之急。”

The union also argues that aluminum is important to national defense because it is widely used in military equipment.

該工會也辯稱，鍊鋁業對國防至關重要，因爲鋁金屬是軍事裝備廣泛使用的原材料。

Section 201 cases are reviewed by the United States International Trade Commission, a bipartisan, quasi-judicial group of trade experts in Washington. The commission then makes a recommendation to the president within two to six months, who makes the final decision on whether to impose tariffs. The law allows government officials, industries or unions to file claims.

第201條款案由華盛頓特區的美國國際貿易委員會(United States International Trade Commission)負責審理，這是由貿易專家組成、不分黨派的準司法團體。該委員會會在受理案件後二到六個月內對美國總統提出建言，總統再就是否加徵關稅做最後決定。依照美國法律規定，政府官員、產業代表或工會都能對該委員會提出申請。

Presidents have almost always followed the commission’s advice, although President Carter turned down a recommendation for tariffs on stainless steel flatware in 1978 and President George H.W. Bush rejected a recommendation for tariffs on extruded rubber threads in 1992. The Office of the United States Trade Representative declined to comment on the union’s contentions.

歷任美國總統幾乎都會聽從美國國際貿易委員會的建言，不過卡特總統曾在1978年拒絕了該委員會對不鏽鋼餐具加徵關稅的建議；喬治‧H‧W‧布什總統(President George H.W. Bush)則在1992年拒絕了對橡膠線加徵關稅的建議。美國貿易代表辦公室(The Office of the United States Trade Representative)拒絕對該工會的主張發表評論。

China, which already produces more than half the world’s aluminum, is expanding capacity even as its economy decelerates. The result has been a surge in exports and falling prices for aluminum.

中國已出產全球一半以上的鋁材；雖然該國經濟增長正在放緩，目前仍在繼續擴張鋁工業的產能。此舉的後果就是鋁出口量大幅上升、價格下滑。

Chinese exports of aluminum jumped more than 27 percent in the past two years, Chinese customs figures show.

中國海關的數據顯示，中國的鋁材出口量在過去兩年間激增了27%。

A spokesman for the government-affiliated China Aluminum Association, who gave his family name as Zeng, said aluminum’s increasing use in high-speed railway equipment, aerospace and electronics justified China’s expanding production capacity and rising exports.

政府附屬機構中國鋁業協會的曾姓發言人表示，高鐵裝備、航空及電子領域的鋁材使用量日益增加，是中國產能擴大、出口激增的原因所在。

Smelters in Canada and elsewhere, having been displaced in their traditional international markets, have stepped up shipments of raw aluminum to the United States. American imports of raw aluminum from Canada, the biggest supplier, jumped 10 percent by tonnage last year, United States customs data shows.

加拿大等地的冶煉廠在其傳統的國際市場中已經被取而代之，於是加緊向美國出口原鋁。美國海關的數據顯示，去年，美國從原鋁最大供應方加拿大處進口的原鋁噸數增長了10%。

Other factors are influencing the aluminum trade. Alcoa, the main aluminum smelting company in the United States, has announced the closing of a series of smelting operations in the United States while relying more on production in Canada, Iceland and Saudi Arabia, as part of what it describes as an effort to improve overall efficiency. In a statement it said, “Alcoa has a long history of cooperation with the U.S. government. We haven’t seen the petition and look forward to reviewing it.”

其他一些因素也在影響鋁材貿易。美國最主要的鍊鋁企業美鋁公司(Alcoa)已經宣佈關閉美國境內的一系列冶煉廠，同時更加倚重加拿大、冰島和沙特阿拉伯的產出，並稱這是竭力提高總體效率之舉。該公司在一份聲明中表示，“美鋁公司與美國政府長期保持合作。我們尚未看到那份請願書，希望有機會仔細研究它。”

Exports to the United States are an important source of employment in China, and Chinese officials have been increasingly concerned about Donald J. Trump’s populist appeals for a tougher trade policy, including a steep tariff on goods from China. Finance minister Lou Jiwei of China told The Wall Street Journal during a visit to Washington in the past week that imposing such a tariff would violate World Trade Organization rules.

在中國，產品銷往美國的出口企業是就業崗位的重要來源之一，該國官員對唐納德·J·特朗普(Donald J. Trump)的民粹主義訴求——包括大幅度提高中國商品的進口關稅——憂懼日增。中國財政部長樓繼偉曾在上週到訪華盛頓期間告訴《華爾街日報》(The Wall Street Journal)，這樣大幅提高關稅是違反世界貿易組織(WTO)規則的。