There Are No Winners in a Trade War

贸易战没有赢家

 

San Francisco Chronicle Published a Signed Article by Consul General Luo Linquan

驻旧金山总领事罗林泉在《旧金山纪事报》评论版头条发表署名文章

 

6 April 2018

2018年4月6日

 

On 6 April 2018, the San Francisco Chronicle published a signed article by Consul General Luo Linquan entitled There are no Winners in a Trade War. The full text is as follows:

2018年4月6日，驻旧金山总领事罗林泉在《旧金山纪事报》评论版头条发表署名文章《贸易战没有赢家》，全文如下：

 

As the San Francisco Chronicle reported last month, California would be on the front lines of a U.S.-China trade war. This is what Californians and we in the Chinese Consulate really don’t want to see. But when a country is forced into a trade war, it has no choice but to react accordingly.

正如《旧金山纪事报》上月报道指出，中美爆发贸易战，加州必会首当其冲。加州人民和我们总领馆都不愿看到这一幕发生。但当一个国家被逼进贸易战，也别无选择，只能进行应对。

 

On April 3, Washington announced a list of 1,300 Chinese products worth about $50 billion that could be subject to 25 percent tariffs. This follows a new tariff on steel and aluminum announced last month. China was forced to take countermeasures by announcing new tariffs on products from the United States, including nuts, fruit and wine. China would impose tariffs of 25 percent on 106 types of U.S. products worth $50 billion, if the United States’ plans become reality 60 days later.

华盛顿于4月3日公布了一份总值约500亿美元涵盖1300种中国产品的清单，威胁对这些产品加征25%的关税。这是美国继上个月对进口钢铁和铝征收新关税后的又一动作。中国被迫采取反制措施，宣布对一些美国产品征收新的关税，其中包括坚果、水果和葡萄酒等。如果美国在60天后执行其计划，中国将对总值约500亿美元的106种美国产品征收25%的关税。

In the almost 40 years since China and the United States established diplomatic relations, both countries and both peoples benefited a lot from economic and trade cooperation. In just four decades, bilateral trade volume increased by 233 times from $2.5 billion in 1979 to $583.7 billion last year, according to the Ministry of Commerce in China. Trade is creating numerous jobs, revenues and tax to both countries.

中美建交近40年来，两国和两国人民从经贸合作中受益匪浅。中国商务部数据显示，在短短40年的时间里，双边贸易额从1979年的25亿美元增加到去年的5837亿美元，增长了233倍。贸易为中美创造了大量的就业机会、收入和税收。

We are happy to see that China is California’s largest trade partner and third-largest export destination. California’s exports to China grew 8.2 times over the past two decades, totaling $130 billion last year. The increasing trade with China provides a strong market for California’s producers of computers, electronics and agricultural products.

我们很高兴看到中国成为加州最大的贸易伙伴和第三大出口目的地。过去20年加州对华出口增长了8.2倍，去年达到1300亿美元。与日俱增的对华贸易，为加州的计算机、电子产品和农产品生产商提供了巨大的市场。

 

California’s big companies also are operating well in China. For example, Apple’s sales in China were $44.7 billion last year, and this figure is not included in trade volume statistics. Furthermore, China’s investors, tourists and overseas students are helping to fuel the economic growth of California and boost local employment.

加州的大公司在中国也运营良好。例如，苹果公司去年在中国的销售额为447亿美元，可是这个数字却未被计入双边贸易数字中。此外，中国的投资者、游客和留学生也推动了加州经济增长并增加了当地就业机会。

 

However, the free-trade basis for China-California economic cooperation may be in danger under the federal government’s new, unilateral protectionist actions. This opening of Pandora’s box exposes the United States to the risk of retaliation. A possible trade war could affect people’s daily life, harm China-U.S. relations and subnational cooperation between China and California, and disturb the global trade system.

然而，联邦政府最新出台的单边保护主义行动，可能破坏中国与加州经济合作的自由贸易基础。这个潘多拉魔盒一旦打开，将使美国面临被报复的风险。潜在的贸易战会影响人们的日常生活，并损害中美关系和中国与加州的合作，同时扰乱全球贸易体系。

 

Trade is a voluntary exchange agreed to by the parties concerned. China did not force anyone to buy its products, nor did China pursue a trade surplus over others. Solving trade frictions needs efforts by both sides through peaceful negotiations based on equality and mutual respect. Both China and the United States have too much to lose to allow anyone to trigger a trade war.

贸易是有关方面达成一致的自愿交易活动。中国从未强迫任何一方购买其产品，中国也不谋求针对其他国家的贸易顺差。解决贸易摩擦需要双方以平等、相互尊重为基础进行谈判。无论谁触发贸易战，都会使中美两国蒙受巨大损失。

 

China will continue to uphold free trade and pursue opening-up to further trade as a fundamental policy. As the world’s second-largest economy, with a market of more than 1.3 billion people, China accounts for 10 percent of the total imports of the world. In the past five years, China has imported $9 trillion in commodities. It the next five years, it will import more than $10 trillion in commodities and services. We’re working hard to open wider to the outside world, which will provide even broader opportunities for other countries, including the United States.　　

中国将继续奉行自由贸易和进一步开放的基本政策。作为世界第二大经济体和拥有超过13亿人口的市场，中国占世界进口总额的10%。过去五年间，中国进口超过9万亿美元的商品，并预计在未来五年将进口超过10万亿美元的商品和服务。我们正在努力扩大对外开放，这将为包括美国在内的其他国家提供更广阔的机会。