奧巴馬爭(zhēng)取貿(mào)易推動(dòng)權(quán)遭民主黨內(nèi)反對(duì)

Obama vs. Democrats on Trade

奧巴馬爭(zhēng)取貿(mào)易推動(dòng)權(quán)遭民主黨內(nèi)反對(duì)

WASHINGTON — President Obama is facing opposition from fellow Democrats to one of his top priorities: winning the power to negotiate international trade agreements and speed them through Congress.

華盛頓——奧巴馬總統(tǒng)在他極為重要的一項(xiàng)議題上，在民主黨內(nèi)部遭遇了反對(duì)，那就是取得授權(quán)從而就國(guó)際貿(mào)易協(xié)定開(kāi)展談判，并使協(xié)議快速在國(guó)會(huì)得到通過(guò)。

As Mr. Obama’s team works privately to line up support for the so-called trade promotion authority, a coalition of Democratic lawmakers and activists from organized labor, environmental, religious and civil rights groups is stepping up efforts to stop him.

奧巴馬的團(tuán)隊(duì)在私下里努力為所謂的“貿(mào)易推動(dòng)權(quán)”(trade promotion authority)贏得支持，而此時(shí)民主黨議員、勞工團(tuán)體，以及環(huán)保、宗教、民權(quán)組織正聯(lián)合起來(lái)，極力阻止奧巴馬。

“Fast track would be yet another insult to the American worker,” Representative Rosa DeLauro, Democrat of Connecticut, said at a Thursday news conference on Capitol Hill, where she predicted the effort’s defeat. “It will not happen. We are not going to do it.”

“批準(zhǔn)‘快速通道’(fast-track)會(huì)再一次侮辱美國(guó)的工作人群，”康涅狄格州民主黨眾議員羅莎·德勞洛(Rosa DeLauro)周四在國(guó)會(huì)山舉行的一場(chǎng)新聞發(fā)布會(huì)上表示。她預(yù)計(jì)奧巴馬的提案不會(huì)得到國(guó)會(huì)通過(guò)，“這事成不了，我們不會(huì)這樣做。”

Winning the authority would allow Mr. Obama to finish and gain swift approval of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a sprawling pact that his administration has been painstakingly negotiating.

贏得這項(xiàng)權(quán)力后，奧巴馬就可以結(jié)束“跨太平洋伙伴關(guān)系”(Trans-Pacific Partnership，簡(jiǎn)稱TPP)談判，并迅速使其得到通過(guò)。TPP是一個(gè)范圍很廣的協(xié)定，奧巴馬政府一直在艱難地談判。

But Ms. DeLauro and other Democratic lawmakers argue that the president is asking for carte blanche to secretly negotiate a trade deal that would cost American jobs, weaken food safety and financial regulations and undermine environmental and labor standards.

然而德勞洛和其他民主黨議員認(rèn)為，奧巴馬是在索取秘密談判貿(mào)易協(xié)定的無(wú)限權(quán)力，這樣會(huì)導(dǎo)致美國(guó)失去就業(yè)崗位、損害食品安全、弱化金融監(jiān)管、破壞環(huán)保和勞工保障的標(biāo)準(zhǔn)。

The dispute pits Mr. Obama against his own party over what the president has identified as one of the few patches of common ground between him and Republicans that could yield an accomplishment during his final two years in office. Its outcome could determine the fate of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a complicated 12-nation agreement that would encompass 40 percent of the world economy and is a crucial element of Mr. Obama’s pivot to Asia. It is also animating an intraparty policy fight among Democrats that could shape the 2016 presidential campaign.

這讓奧巴馬與自己的政黨發(fā)生了爭(zhēng)執(zhí)，奧巴馬認(rèn)為這是他與共和黨之間少有的共識(shí)之一，可以借此在他執(zhí)政的最后兩年取得一些政績(jī)。其結(jié)果可能會(huì)決定 TPP的命運(yùn)，這項(xiàng)復(fù)雜的協(xié)議涵蓋12個(gè)國(guó)家，囊括全球經(jīng)濟(jì)總量的40%，在奧巴馬轉(zhuǎn)向亞洲的戰(zhàn)略中是一個(gè)關(guān)鍵組成部分。它也在民主黨內(nèi)部引發(fā)了政策之爭(zhēng)，可能會(huì)影響2016年的總統(tǒng)大選。

Mr. Obama has dispatched top officials, led by his chief envoy, Michael B. Froman, to Congress to quietly make the case for the agreement and build support for winning the trade authority.

奧巴馬派出了以貿(mào)易代表邁克爾·B·弗羅曼(Michael B. Froman)為首的一些高層官員，到國(guó)會(huì)低調(diào)地替協(xié)議辯護(hù)，試圖為拿到貿(mào)易權(quán)力而贏得支持。

“The president has directed us to be responsive to the very important questions that are being asked by members of Congress,” Thomas E. Perez, the labor secretary, said in an interview. “What’s going on now, I think, is part of the healthy give-and-take that should take place when we’re contemplating an important piece of legislation.”

“總統(tǒng)指示我們，要對(duì)國(guó)會(huì)議員提出的十分重要的問(wèn)題做出回應(yīng)，”勞工部長(zhǎng)托馬斯·E·佩雷斯(Thomas E. Perez)在采訪中表示。“我想現(xiàn)在正在開(kāi)展的事情，是一場(chǎng)有益的討價(jià)還價(jià)中的一部分，我們?cè)诳紤]一項(xiàng)重要的立法時(shí)，應(yīng)該開(kāi)展這樣的討論。”

At the same time, Mr. Obama’s advisers see a ripe opportunity to win approval of his trade agenda given that Congress is fully under the control of Republicans who back trade liberalization.

與此同時(shí)，奧巴馬的顧問(wèn)們認(rèn)為，現(xiàn)在為他的貿(mào)易政策贏得支持的時(shí)機(jī)已經(jīng)成熟，因?yàn)楣埠忘h已經(jīng)完全控制國(guó)會(huì)，而共和黨支持貿(mào)易自由化。

Mr. Obama has acknowledged the challenge from his own ranks, saying last month that he must do more to explain how the Trans-Pacific Partnership would help American workers.

奧巴馬承認(rèn)，自身政黨內(nèi)部存在挑戰(zhàn)，并于上個(gè)月表示他必須做出更多努力，解釋TPP能怎樣幫助美國(guó)的工作人群。

Lori Wallach, the director of Public Citizen’s Global Trade Watch, said presidential efforts to secure the trade power had met with hostility from Congress since the adoption of the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement and the creation of the World Trade Organization. Those are the product of a collaboration of another Republican Congress and a Democratic president, Bill Clinton.

公眾公民(Public Citizen)旗下的全球貿(mào)易觀察項(xiàng)目(Global Trade Watch)主任洛麗·沃勒克(Lori Wallach)表示，總統(tǒng)取得貿(mào)易權(quán)力的努力，從《北美自由貿(mào)易協(xié)定》(North American Free Trade Agreement)在1994年生效、世界貿(mào)易組織(World Trade Organization)成立以來(lái)，就面臨了國(guó)會(huì)的敵意。這兩項(xiàng)舉措也是共和黨國(guó)會(huì)和民主黨總統(tǒng)比爾·克林頓(Bill Clinton)聯(lián)手的產(chǎn)物。

Those measures “woke up Congress about what ‘fast track’ means,” she said in an interview, and ever since “it’s really hard to get them to delegate that authority.” She noted that in the 21 years since those deals were approved, Congress has awarded trade promotion authority to a president for a total of only five years.

這兩個(gè)事件“讓國(guó)會(huì)對(duì)‘快速通道’意味著什么產(chǎn)生了警覺(jué)，”沃勒克在一次采訪中說(shuō)，從那以來(lái)，“就很難讓他們把這項(xiàng)權(quán)力交給別人。”她提到，那兩項(xiàng)貿(mào)易協(xié)定得到通過(guò)以來(lái)的21年里，國(guó)會(huì)只向一位總統(tǒng)授予了總共五年的貿(mào)易推動(dòng)權(quán)。

“For Obama, it’s particularly tricky, because that big power grab would be used for this agreement that is basically a Trojan horse for every kind of extreme corporate proposal that could not get passed in the sunshine of public debate,” she said.

她說(shuō)，“對(duì)奧巴馬來(lái)說(shuō)，這尤其棘手，因?yàn)槿绱舜笈e攫取權(quán)力，針對(duì)的卻是這個(gè)協(xié)議。而它基本上是一個(gè)特洛伊木馬，滿足了企業(yè)提出的每一種極端的要求，這些要求在公共辯論的眼光下根本不會(huì)得到通過(guò)。”

The White House rejects the characterization, arguing that the Trans-Pacific Partnership would raise standards across the board. Mr. Perez said officials were incorporating lawmakers’ concerns about important elements of the agreement — like the need for stronger and quicker enforcement measures — into the continuing international negotiations.

白宮否認(rèn)這種說(shuō)法，辯稱TPP可以全面提高標(biāo)準(zhǔn)。佩雷斯表示，官員們正在將國(guó)會(huì)議員對(duì)協(xié)議中重要部分的顧慮——包括需要建立更強(qiáng)、更迅速的執(zhí)法機(jī)制——納入仍在進(jìn)行的國(guó)際談判中。

“The guidance from the president has been very clear: I want the best agreement that’s going to protect American workers, provide decent hours and wages, and address both environment and labor conditions,” Mr. Perez said.

佩雷斯說(shuō)，“總統(tǒng)的指示十分明確：我想得到一個(gè)最好的協(xié)議，要能保護(hù)美國(guó)工作者的利益，提供體面的工時(shí)和薪水，并應(yīng)對(duì)環(huán)保和勞動(dòng)條件的問(wèn)題。”

Republicans and centrist Democrats strongly support Mr. Obama’s trade agenda. But given the bitter partisan divisions in Washington and Mr. Obama’s aggressive use of executive action in recent months, it is unclear how unified Republicans will be in support of his trade initiatives.

共和黨和民主黨中間派強(qiáng)烈支持奧巴馬的貿(mào)易政策。然而鑒于華盛頓存在尖銳的黨派分歧，并且?jiàn)W巴馬近幾個(gè)月來(lái)大舉運(yùn)用行政權(quán)力，尚不清楚共和黨能在多大程度上聯(lián)合起來(lái)支持他在貿(mào)易方面的舉措。