Donald Trump’s top trade official has opened thedoor to reviving trade negotiations with the EU butwarned the bloc it will be in competition with Chinaand Japan to show willingness to do the first dealwith the new US administration.
美國(guó)總統(tǒng)唐納德?特朗普(Donald Trump)的最高貿(mào)易官員開(kāi)啟了與歐盟(EU)恢復(fù)貿(mào)易談判的大門(mén)，但警告歐盟：它需要與中國(guó)和日本展開(kāi)競(jìng)爭(zhēng)，以證明自己愿意首先與特朗普政府達(dá)成協(xié)議。
Wilbur Ross, US commerce secretary, said the needto cut the US’s $146bn transatlantic trade deficit ingoods was one of his priorities. The deficit is second only to the $347bn one with China.
美國(guó)商務(wù)部長(zhǎng)威爾伯?羅斯(Wilbur Ross)表示，美國(guó)需要降低1460億美元的對(duì)歐貨物貿(mào)易赤字，這是他的優(yōu)先事項(xiàng)之一。這個(gè)數(shù)字僅次于3470億美元的美國(guó)對(duì)華貨物貿(mào)易赤字。
The billionaire investor is due to host Cecilia Malmstr?m, EU trade commissioner, in Washingtontoday for their first meeting to discuss how to proceed with talks over a Transatlantic Tradeand Investment Partnership (TTIP) launched under the Obama administration. Those talksstarted in 2013 but stalled last year amid intense political opposition in the EU and last June’svote by the UK to leave the bloc.
這位億萬(wàn)富豪投資者周一將在華盛頓迎接歐盟貿(mào)易專(zhuān)員塞西莉亞?馬姆斯特羅姆(Cecilia Malmstr?m)，舉行兩人之間的首次會(huì)晤，討論如何推進(jìn)之前由奧巴馬(Obama)政府啟動(dòng)的《跨大西洋貿(mào)易與投資伙伴關(guān)系協(xié)定》(TTIP)談判。TTIP談判在2013年就已開(kāi)始，但由于遭到歐盟內(nèi)部的激烈政治反對(duì)和去年6月英國(guó)公投退歐，談判去年陷入停滯。
“The three big [economies] that are the sources of our trade deficit outside of [the NorthAmerican Free Trade Agreement] are China, Japan and Europe. So it is logical that?.?.?.?oneshould focus on Europe,” Mr Ross said.
“在《北美自由貿(mào)易協(xié)定》(NAFTA)以外，給我們?cè)斐勺畲筚Q(mào)易逆差的三大（經(jīng)濟(jì)體）是中國(guó)、日本和歐洲。所以合乎邏輯的是……我們應(yīng)該關(guān)注歐洲，”羅斯說(shuō)。
The move marks a shift in tone by the Trump administration, which had been pushing tostrike bilateral deals with EU members such as Germany, despite not being allowed to under EUrules.
此舉標(biāo)志著特朗普政府的口風(fēng)轉(zhuǎn)變，此前特朗普政府一直在推動(dòng)與德國(guó)等個(gè)別的歐盟成員國(guó)達(dá)成雙邊協(xié)定，盡管依據(jù)歐盟規(guī)則不能這么做。
But US officials caution that the meeting is unlikely to lead to a rapid resumption of talks withBrussels because of the German election in September. Just as a Trump plan to pursue abilateral deal with the UK was put on hold because of Brexit, they warn, Washington has doubtsabout the EU’s “bandwidth” as it focuses on its talks with London.
但美國(guó)官員告誡稱(chēng)，由于德國(guó)將在9月舉行大選，這次會(huì)晤不太可能導(dǎo)致華盛頓與布魯塞爾迅速恢復(fù)談判。他們警告稱(chēng)，就像特朗普致力于與英國(guó)達(dá)成雙邊協(xié)定的計(jì)劃因?yàn)橛?guó)退歐而被擱置，美國(guó)對(duì)歐盟在專(zhuān)注于其與英國(guó)談判之際的“帶寬”感到疑慮。
EU officials are similarly cautious about resuming talks with the US that would probably bedifficult and draw public opposition in Europe, where Mr Trump is unpopular. “Before taking adecision on how to proceed, we would need to clarify that there is a sufficient level ofshared ambition and common ground in finding solutions to difficult issues,” said acommission spokesman.
歐盟官員同樣對(duì)恢復(fù)歐美貿(mào)易談判感到謹(jǐn)慎�；謴�(fù)談判將很可能是困難的，并在特朗普不受歡迎的歐洲招致公眾反對(duì)。歐盟委員會(huì)一名發(fā)言人說(shuō)：“在就如何推進(jìn)作出決定之前，我們需要澄清一點(diǎn)，那就是在尋求針對(duì)困難問(wèn)題的解決方案上，雙方有足夠大的共同抱負(fù)和共同點(diǎn)�！�
Mr Ross said that despite portrayals of the administration as a protectionist force in theglobal economy, it was intent on pursuing trade deals with major US economic partners.Although one of Mr Trump’s first acts was to pull the US out of the Trans-Pacific Partnershipwith Japan and 10 other nations, he had deci-ded not to do the same with TTIP.
羅斯表示，盡管特朗普政府被很多人描繪成全球經(jīng)濟(jì)中的一支保護(hù)主義力量，但它有意爭(zhēng)取與美國(guó)的主要經(jīng)濟(jì)伙伴達(dá)成貿(mào)易協(xié)議。雖然特朗普的首批行動(dòng)之一是讓美國(guó)撤出與日本和其他10個(gè)國(guó)家達(dá)成的《跨太平洋伙伴關(guān)系協(xié)定》(TPP)，但他已決定不撤出TTIP。
