2022年经济学人 美国补贴导致欧洲“分裂”(2)

 

A first possible tack¹ would be to take America to the WTO, in the hope of a ruling that its new subsidies² are illegal.

第一个可能的策略是将美国告上世贸组织，希望世贸组织裁定美国新的补贴非法。

Such wranglings are long, dull and unrewarding: the transatlantic battle over aircraft subsidies to Airbus and Boeing lasted 17 years.

这样的争论是漫长、乏味且没有回报的：大西洋两岸围绕空客和波音飞机补贴的争端持续了17年。

By the time it ended in 2021, it was impossible to say who had won (apart from the lawyers).

到2021年这场争端结束时，除了律师，很难说究竟谁是胜者。

Nowadays it is unclear that the WTO even has the capacity to process such a case.

如今，人们甚至不清楚世贸组织是否有能力处理这样的案件。

(Donald Trump³, and later Mr. Biden, paralysed its dispute-resolution mechanism⁴ by blocking all new appointments of judges to it.)（唐纳德·特朗普，以及后来的拜登，都拒绝任命争端解决机制下上诉机构的新法官，此举让世贸组织的争端解决机制陷入了瘫痪。)And if Europe were somehow to prevail at the WTO, and win permission to retaliate⁶ with its own tariffs⁷, it might not want to do so.

就算欧洲能以某种方式在世贸组织获胜，并获得许可，能够利用自己的关税对美国进行报复，它可能也不想这样做。

A trade war would expose a rift⁸ between Europeans who are sceptical of globalisation—France, say, which has been pushing for "Buy European" schemes—and others like the Netherlands and Ireland who believe their prosperity depends on open trade.

贸易战将暴露出欧洲（例如法国，一直在推动《购买欧洲商品》法案的进程）和荷兰，爱尔兰等其他国家之间的裂痕：欧洲对全球化持怀疑态度，而荷兰等国家认为其国家繁荣有赖于开放贸易。

Both America and Europe know that China, a common economic rival, is happy to watch them squabble.

美国和欧洲都知道，他们共同的经济对手——中国，对他们的争吵乐在其中。

America's trade envoy⁹, Katherine Tai, has suggested a second possibility for Europe: it should simply respond to the IRA with a jumbo subsidies programme of its own.

美国贸易代表戴琪为欧洲提出了第二种可能性：欧洲应该采取简单一点的措施，利用自己的巨额补贴计划来回应《通货膨胀削减法案》。

That would indeed level the playing field - if Europe could afford it.

这确实能创造公平的竞争环境——前提是如果欧洲能够负担得起。

Some countries can.

有些国家可以做到。

Germany, say, has lots of industry and little debt.

例如德国，它拥有大量的工业，并几乎没有债务。

But if it splurges on aid to domestic firms, that would deal a harsh blow to the EU's single market.

但如果它大力援助国内企业，那将对欧盟单一市场造成沉重打击。

A 200bn Euro ($206bn) German plan to help households and businesses deal with higher energy prices has irked other Europeans.

德国为帮助本国家庭和企业应对能源价格上涨而宣布的2000亿欧元（合2060亿美元）计划惹恼了其他欧洲人。

How can a Slovak firm compete with a German one, given the Slovak government's tiny budget?

在斯洛伐克政府预算微薄的情况下，一家斯洛伐克公司该如何与德国公司竞争？

Here the divide is between big EU countries with deep-pocketed governments and big global firms, and smaller countries that have neither.

分歧在于，欧盟中的大国拥有财力雄厚的政府和大型全球公司，而欧盟中的小国则没有这些。

A third option would be to imitate America's subsidy-fest, but have it funded by the EU.

第三种选择是由欧盟提供资金，和美国一样进行大力补贴。

Some would like a reprise of the NGEU, a 750bn Euro post-pandemic fund raised by joint¹⁰ borrowing that will be repaid mainly by rich countries but will be spent across the bloc⁵.

一些人希望重启“下一代欧盟”计划，这是一项疫情后用于欧洲经济复苏的7500亿欧元资金，通过联合借款筹集。该资金主要由富裕国家偿还，但将用于整个欧盟。

Mere¹¹ talk of such a scheme has reopened the oldest European rift of all, pitting spendthrift southerners against skinflint northerners who don't want to subsidise them.

仅仅是启动这样一个计划的传言就让欧洲最古老的裂隙重新显现：一边是挥霍无度的南方人，另一边是不想补贴对方的吝啬的北方人。

It looks like a non-starter.

这让事情看起来成功无望。

European grumbling¹² about American protectionism would carry more weight if the EU hadn't itself already devised policies quite similar to Mr. Biden's.

如果欧盟自己还没有制定出与美国《通货膨胀削减法案》相当的政策，那么欧洲对美国保护主义的抱怨将更有分量。

Mr. Macron proclaims the need for "strategic autonomy" so loudly and so often that America has clearly overheard.

马克龙如此高调、如此频繁地宣称需要“战略自主”，美国显然听到了。

No European scheme is as brazenly¹³ trade-hampering as the IRA.

没有哪个欧洲制定的计划像《通货膨胀削减法案》那样肆无忌惮地阻碍贸易。

But the EU's planned tariffs on imports from countries with no intention of cutting carbon emissions¹⁴ are protectionism-adjacent, as are new rules designed to keep some foreign firms from investing in the EU.

但欧盟计划向无意削减碳排放的国家征收进口商品的关税，这一行为就像是保护主义的变体，其它一些旨在阻止外国公司在欧盟进行投资的新规定也是如此。

And while it is true that subsidies paid out in Europe are also available to foreign firms, local ones know better how to lobby to get more than their fair share.

虽然欧洲发放的补贴确实可以提供给外国公司，但当地公司更清楚该如何游说，以获得超过合理份额的补贴。

Europe is getting burnt by American policies, but it helped start the fire.

欧洲正因美国的政策到了火烧眉毛的地步，但它自己也是火上浇油的一份子。

1 tack   

n.大头钉；假缝，粗缝

参考例句：

• He is hammering a tack into the wall to hang a picture.他正往墙上钉一枚平头钉用来挂画。
• We are going to tack the map on the wall.我们打算把这张地图钉在墙上。

2 subsidies   

n.补贴，津贴，补助金( subsidy的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• European agriculture ministers failed to break the deadlock over farm subsidies. 欧洲各国农业部长在农业补贴问题上未能打破僵局。
• Agricultural subsidies absorb about half the EU's income. 农业补贴占去了欧盟收入的大约一半。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

4 mechanism   

n.机械装置；机构，结构

参考例句：

• The bones and muscles are parts of the mechanism of the body.骨骼和肌肉是人体的组成部件。
• The mechanism of the machine is very complicated.这台机器的结构是非常复杂的。

5 bloc   

n.集团；联盟

参考例句：

• A solid bloc of union members support the decision.工会会员团结起来支持该决定。
• There have been growing tensions within the trading bloc.贸易同盟国的关系越来越紧张。

6 retaliate   

v.报复，反击

参考例句：

• He sought every opportunity to retaliate against his enemy.他找机会向他的敌人反击。
• It is strictly forbidden to retaliate against the quality inspectors.严禁对质量检验人员进行打击报复。

7 tariffs   

关税制度； 关税( tariff的名词复数 )； 关税表； （旅馆或饭店等的）收费表； 量刑标准

参考例句：

• British industry was sheltered from foreign competition by protective tariffs. 保护性关税使英国工业免受国际竞争影响。
• The new tariffs have put a stranglehold on trade. 新的关税制对开展贸易极为不利。

8 rift   

n.裂口，隙缝，切口；v.裂开，割开，渗入

参考例句：

• He was anxious to mend the rift between the two men.他急于弥合这两个人之间的裂痕。
• The sun appeared through a rift in the clouds.太阳从云层间隙中冒出来。

9 envoy   

n.使节，使者，代表，公使

参考例句：

• Their envoy showed no sign of responding to our proposals.他们的代表对我方的提议毫无回应的迹象。
• The government has not yet appointed an envoy to the area.政府尚未向这一地区派过外交官。

10 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

11 mere   

adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过

参考例句：

• That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
• It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。

12 grumbling   

adj. 喃喃鸣不平的, 出怨言的

参考例句：

• She's always grumbling to me about how badly she's treated at work. 她总是向我抱怨她在工作中如何受亏待。
• We didn't hear any grumbling about the food. 我们没听到过对食物的抱怨。

13 brazenly   

adv.厚颜无耻地；厚脸皮地肆无忌惮地

参考例句：

• How dare he distort the facts so brazenly! 他怎么敢如此肆无忌惮地歪曲事实！ 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• "I don't know," he answered, looking her brazenly over. “我也不知道，"他厚颜无耻地打量着她。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

14 emissions   

排放物( emission的名词复数 )； 散发物（尤指气体）

参考例句：

• Most scientists accept that climate change is linked to carbon emissions. 大多数科学家都相信气候变化与排放的含碳气体有关。
• Dangerous emissions radiate from plutonium. 危险的辐射物从钚放散出来。