Oct 5th 2006
From The Economist print edition
The European Commission hatches new trade plans
欧盟酝酿新贸易计划
“EUROPE needs to import to export.” That is the slogan of the European Commission's new strategy for securing its economic place in the world, unveiled this week by Peter Mandelson, the European Union's commissioner for trade. The soundbite, of course, gets the economics precisely backwards: exports are the price a country must pay for its imports; Europeans toil away making stuff for others to consume only so they can in turn get their hands on the fruits of foreign labours.
“欧洲要为了出口而进口。”这是欧盟为巩固其在世界上上的经济地位而制订的新战略中提出来的口号，于本周由欧盟贸易委员彼得•曼德尔森宣布。这一讲话无疑与经济学准则背道而驰：出口是国家为进口而付出的代价；欧洲人辛辛苦苦地生产产品给欧洲以外的人消费，只是为了能反过来得到别国劳动力的劳动果实。
But the slogan does capture two awkward truths European exporters must now confront. First, only by offering to open its own markets can the EU hope to persuade foreign countries to open theirs. But with the collapse of the Doha round of trade talks, it is not obvious to whom the Europeans should make their offers. Second, European companies are now part of elaborate global supply chains. Clumsy efforts to protect some of them from foreign competition deprive others of the cheap inputs they need to thrive in world markets.
但是这个口号的确揭示了欧洲出口国家要面对的两个尴尬现实。首先，欧盟只有开放自身的市场，才能指望欧盟以外的国家对其开放市场。可是，随着多哈回合贸易谈判的破裂，欧洲人要向哪些国家开放市场尚不明朗。其次，欧洲公司目前已成为全球精密的供应链中的一环。用笨拙的手段去保护一些公司免受竞争对手的挑战，会使其他公司失去其在国际市场上赖以维持兴旺的廉价原材料。
The new trade strategy looks at both of these dilemmas, among others. Though Mr Mandelson insists that he remains wedded to multilateral negotiations at the World Trade Organisation, he also fancies pursuing a bit on the side with other willing trade partners. The EU will pick its partners according to three criteria: do they offer a big, growing market? Are they cutting deals with America or Japan? And are they guilty of deterring European companies, either repelling them at the border with high tariffs, or
bogging them down in cumbersome rules and regulations? The strategy names ASEAN, South Korea, India and Russia as priorities, as well as two regional blocks, Mercosur and the Gulf Co-operation Council, that it is already courting. The EU will reveal its plans for China at the end of the month.
新贸易战略在兼顾其它的同时，也照顾到了这种两难的局面。虽然曼德尔森坚称他还会坚持在世界贸易组织内进行多边谈判，他同时也在打算另外寻求其他愿意与其合作的贸易伙伴。欧盟选择伙伴会依据三条标准：是否可以提供成长中的大市场？是否在削减与美国和日本往来？是否对欧洲公司有过限制行为，曾否用高关税将欧洲公司拒之门外，或者用繁冗的规条来抑制欧洲公司的发展。这个战略把东盟、韩国、印度和俄罗斯列为优先合作对象，而把南方共同市场和海湾合作理事会列为其正在进行争取的两个区域性壁垒。欧盟将在月底公布其对中国的计划。
The strategy also proposes to look again at how the EU protects its own borders, because its favoured weapons are prone to backfire. For example, EU ministers decided this week to slap anti-dumping duties on leather shoes from Vietnam and China, which threaten shoemakers in Italy, Portugal and Spain. But the duties are opposed by Europe's own retailers and some of its sportswear makers. Letting Asian workers stitch and glue sports shoes makes it possible for such firms to employ Europeans to design and market them.
这一战略还提出，欧盟要重新审视如对其自身进行保护的方式，因为这一类欧盟最喜欢使用武器常常会伤及自身。比如，欧盟的部长们这星期决定的要对越南和中国生产的皮鞋征收反倾销关税，就会对意大利、葡萄牙和西班牙的鞋类制造商造成损害。而这类关税也受到了欧洲本土的零售商和一些休闲服饰制造商的反对。只有让亚洲工人给运动鞋缝线上胶，这些公司才有可能雇用欧洲的人设计、营销产品。
Mr Mandelson presented his strategy as a way to help the EU become more competitive. Opening up to foreign rivals is, of course, an excellent way to foster competition in cloistered domestic industries. A pity then that most of his concrete proposals were about conquering markets abroad, and that the EU is still so ready to raise its defences at home.
曼德尔森公布其战略，目的在于要让欧洲变得更具竞争力。向别国竞争对手开放市场，无疑是一项良好的举措，有利于加强封闭的国内产业的竞争力。遗憾的是，曼德尔森的实质性建议中，多数是针对如何赢得海外市场而提出的，在欧盟里面依然会是壁垒高筑。
Copyright © 2006 The Economist Newspaper and The Economist Group. All rights reserved.翻译 by cornerstone
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