中資企業(yè)對美投資遭遇漫長審查

A growing number of Chinese investments targeting US companies are stalling because of a slowdown in Washington’s national security review process, and as trade tensions rise between Beijing and Donald Trump’s administration.

由于華盛頓減慢了國家安全審查進(jìn)程，越來越多針對美國公司的中國投資陷入停滯。中國政府與唐納德•特朗普(Donald Trump)政府的貿(mào)易緊張態(tài)勢加劇。

Lawmakers in Washington last month introduced bipartisan bills in both chambers of Congress that, if passed next year as many expect, would mark the most significant reforms in a decade of how the Committee on Foreign Investment in the US (Cfius) operates.

華盛頓的兩黨議員們上月在國會兩院聯(lián)合提交了議案。如果這些議案像許多人預(yù)計的那樣在明年通過的話，那將標(biāo)志著美國外國投資委員會(CFIUS)的運作方式發(fā)生10年來最重大的改革。

Cfius already has the power to block investments for national security reasons, but the draft legislation would expand its remit to include overseas joint ventures involving US-based companies. That could subject outbound US investments to heretofore unseen scrutiny.

CFIUS已經(jīng)有權(quán)力以國家安全為由阻止投資，但這些議案將其權(quán)力擴大到美國公司在海外的合資企業(yè)。這可能讓美國對外投資受到前所未有的審查。

The reform push — backed by the Trump administration — is aimed largely at combating China’s growing appetite for US companies in technology and other strategic sectors. But it has coincided with an unusually protracted political transition, with most of the committee’s Trump appointees still awaiting Senate confirmation. That has left lawyers complaining of unusual delays.

這項受到特朗普政府支持的改革舉措，主要是為了打擊中國對科技和其他戰(zhàn)略行業(yè)的美國企業(yè)日益增長的胃口。但它也伴隨著非同尋常的漫長政治過渡，特朗普任命的CFIUS委員們大多仍在等待參議院的確認(rèn)。這導(dǎo)致律師們抱怨延誤過于漫長。

While some blame the administration’s suspicions regarding Chinese investment, people close to the process say it also reflects a shortage of political appointees. The mid-level career staff filling many of the 16-agency committee’s seats are seen as unwilling to make controversial decisions, especially when sensitivities about investments from China are high.

盡管一些人指責(zé)特朗普政府對于中國投資的疑慮，但知情人士表示，這也反映出政治任命人員的短缺。在這個由16個機構(gòu)代表組成的委員會中，臨時填補空缺的中層職業(yè)人員被視為不愿意作出有爭議的決定，特別是在中國投資十分敏感的時候。

The delays have had a material effect on transactions involving Chinese investors. Since the start of 2016, 25 US acquisitions by Chinese companies have been announced but not yet completed, according to Dealogic. That is almost as high as the 27 stalled deals from all other G7 countries put together.

這些延誤對涉及中國投資者的交易產(chǎn)生了實質(zhì)性影響。Dealogic的數(shù)據(jù)顯示，自2016年初以來，中國企業(yè)已經(jīng)宣布、但迄今未完成的針對美國企業(yè)的收購達(dá)到25宗。這幾乎和七國集團(G7)其他所有成員國總計27宗停滯交易一樣高。

Late last month Cowen, a New York-based boutique investment bank, cancelled a $275m investment from CEFC China Energy, blaming delays and “uncertainty” in securing Cfius approval.

上月下旬，紐約精品投行Cowen以延誤和取得CFIUS批準(zhǔn)的“不確定性”為由，取消了中國華信能源(CEFC China Energy，簡稱“華信”)的2.75億美元投資。

Among other deals caught up in the delays are Ant Financial’s agreed $1.3bn bid for MoneyGram, a Dallas-based money transfer company, which was announced in January, and Oceanwide’s $2.7bn acquisition of Genworth Financial, announced in October 2016.

陷入延誤的其他交易包括，螞蟻金服(Ant Financial)今年1月宣布的以13億美元收購總部位于達(dá)拉斯的匯款公司速匯金(MoneyGram)，以及中國泛海(China Oceanwide)在2016年12月宣布的以27億美元收購Genworth Financial。

Genworth, an insurance company based in Richmond, Virginia, has pushed back its merger deadline from November to next April, and has begun to prepare investors for a plan B. Such a move could be wise, said analysts, in view of strains between the two countries.

總部位于弗吉尼亞州里士滿市(Richmond)的保險公司Genworth，已將合并截止日期從今年11月推遲至明年4月，并開始讓投資者做好迎接B計劃的準(zhǔn)備。分析師們表示，考慮到中美兩國關(guān)系的緊張，此類舉措可能很明智。

David Malpass, the under secretary for international affairs at the US Treasury, told the FT recently that America’s main programme for bolstering economic relations with China was “stalled” because of Beijing’s failure to liberalise its economy. The Commerce Department has also self-initiated an anti-dumping case over Chinese aluminium sheeting imports, and the results of investigations into steel imports and Chinese national security practices are expected in the months to come.

美國財政部負(fù)責(zé)國際事務(wù)的副部長戴維•馬爾帕斯(David Malpass)最近向英國《金融時報》表示，由于北京方面未能讓其經(jīng)濟實現(xiàn)自由化，美國提升美中經(jīng)濟關(guān)系的主要計劃“陷入停滯”。美國商務(wù)部還自主發(fā)起一宗針對中國鋁板進(jìn)口的反傾銷調(diào)查，同時針對鋼材進(jìn)口和中國國家安全做法的調(diào)查結(jié)果預(yù)計在未來幾個月發(fā)布。

Rod Hunter, who oversaw Cfius cases while on President George W Bush’s National Security Council and is now a partner at law firm Baker McKenzie, said the US moves were part of a broader international crackdown on record levels of Chinese investment. The EU is considering new constraints on inbound investment and Australia and Canada are among other countries implementing similar scrutiny.

曾作為喬治•W•布什(George W Bush)總統(tǒng)的國家安全委員會(National Security Council)代表監(jiān)督CFIUS案件、現(xiàn)在是貝克•麥堅時國際律師事務(wù)所(Baker & McKenzie)合伙人的羅德•亨特(Rod Hunter)表示，美國的舉措是更廣泛的國際行動的一部分，目的是抑制中國的創(chuàng)紀(jì)錄對外投資。歐盟(EU)正考慮針對外來投資設(shè)置新的限制，澳大利亞和加拿大等國也在實行類似的審查。

But by extending Cfius’ scrutiny to outbound investment and overseas joint ventures, the proposed US legislation would vastly expand the number of transactions facing review to thousands from the 250 or so expected this year.

但通過擴大美國外國投資委員會的審查權(quán)限，使其包括對外投資和海外合資公司，這項擬議的美國立法將使需要審查的交易數(shù)量從今年預(yù)計的250筆左右激增至數(shù)千筆。

“It basically would turn the investment regime into a technology control regime,” Mr Hunter said.

亨特表示：“這基本上將把這個投資主管機構(gòu)轉(zhuǎn)型為一個技術(shù)控制主管機構(gòu)。”

The Trump administration has so far navigated economic relations with China more carefully than many expected. President Trump has hailed planned US investments by China’s Alibaba and Taiwan’s Foxconn, which has many of its operations in mainland China, and his trip to China earlier this year coincided with the announcement of $250bn in business deals.

到目前為止，特朗普政府處理對華經(jīng)貿(mào)關(guān)系的謹(jǐn)慎程度超過很多人的預(yù)期。特朗普總統(tǒng)曾稱贊中國大陸的阿里巴巴(Alibaba)和臺灣的富士康(Foxconn)在美國投資的計劃，富士康的很多業(yè)務(wù)設(shè)在中國大陸。今年早些時候特朗普訪華時宣布了2500億美元的商業(yè)交易。

Still, many suspect Mr Trump’s intentions. John Reynolds, a partner at Davis Polk in Washington, said he had been withholding judgment as to whether the administration’s position on China trade would affect Cfius.

話雖如此，很多人質(zhì)疑特朗普的意圖。華盛頓達(dá)維律師事務(wù)所(Davis Polk)合伙人約翰•雷諾茲(John Reynolds)表示，對于特朗普政府對中國貿(mào)易的立場是否將影響美國外國投資委員會，此前他不愿作出評判。

Nearly a year on, though, the record of delays, withdrawals and blocks shows “a more aggressive interpretation of US national security interests in direct foreign investment,” he said. The relationship to changes in broader US trade policy, he said, seems “more than coincidental”.

他表示，近一年后的今天，空前的推遲、撤銷和否決顯示出“對外國直接投資中的美國國家安全利益有了更為激進(jìn)的解釋”。他表示，與美國整體貿(mào)易政策變化之間的關(guān)系似乎“不只是巧合”。

Resolution of the growing list of deals in limbo may not be imminent, said Robert Hockett, a professor at Cornell Law School, without progress on matters such as North Korea.

康奈爾大學(xué)法學(xué)院(Cornell University Law School)教授羅伯特•霍基特(Robert Hockett)表示，在朝鮮等問題沒有進(jìn)展的情況下，日益增多的懸而未決的交易可能不會馬上解決。

“My impression is that Mr Trump is much more willing to apply very crude forms of leverage like this, by essentially manipulating the processes by which unrelated matters get resolved,” he said. “They seem to me, the Trump folks, to be virtually shameless about that.”

“我的印象是，特朗普更愿意施加這種相當(dāng)生硬的支配力，本質(zhì)上是通過操縱一些過程，讓一些不相關(guān)的問題得到解決，”他表示，“在我看來，特朗普手下的那幫人對此幾乎毫無廉恥。”