美財長稱中美貿(mào)易談判“破裂”，遭兩黨立法者質(zhì)疑

WASHINGTON — The trade war between the United States and China showed no signs of yielding on Thursday, as Steven Mnuchin, the Treasury secretary, told lawmakers there was no clear path to resolution and Beijing blasted the administration over its approach.

華盛頓——美中貿(mào)易戰(zhàn)在周四沒有出現(xiàn)任何緩和跡象，與此同時，美國財政部長史蒂芬·馬努欽(Steven Mnuchin)告訴立法者，目前沒有明確的解決途徑，而北京方面則抨擊美國政府的行動。

Mr. Mnuchin, who has tried to avoid calling the trade tensions with China a “war,” said talks with Beijing had “broken down” and suggested it was now up to China to come to the table with concessions. President Trump, speaking in Brussels on Thursday, described the trade talks with China as a “nasty” battle.

馬努欽曾試圖避免把同中國的貿(mào)易緊張局勢稱為“戰(zhàn)爭”，他說與北京的談判已經(jīng)“破裂”，并表示現(xiàn)在輪到中國在談判中讓步。特朗普總統(tǒng)于周四在布魯塞爾發(fā)表講話，稱與中國的貿(mào)易談判是一場“討厭的”戰(zhàn)爭。

The Chinese, meanwhile, accused the United States of “acting erratically” and said the administration had “blatantly abandoned the consensuses that two sides have reached and insisted on fighting a trade war with China.”

與此同時，中國人指責(zé)美國“反復(fù)無常、出爾反爾”，并表示特朗普政府“公然背棄雙方達(dá)成的共識，堅持與中方打一場貿(mào)易戰(zhàn)”。

Republicans and Democrats on the House Financial Services Committee showed little patience for Mr. Mnuchin’s answers about the lack of progress, repeatedly pressing him about whether there was a strategy to resolve the trade war and expressing concern that it was starting to hurt parts of the economy.

眾議院金融服務(wù)委員會(House Financial Services Committee)的共和黨人和民主黨人對馬努欽關(guān)于沒有進(jìn)展的回答感到很不耐煩，一再追問是否有解決貿(mào)易戰(zhàn)的戰(zhàn)略，并表示擔(dān)心貿(mào)易戰(zhàn)開始傷害部分經(jīng)濟(jì)。

The White House has already hit Beijing with tariffs on $34 billion worth of imports and China has responded with a similar amount of levies on American goods, including soybeans, pork and cars. On Tuesday, the administration outlined tariffs on another $200 billion worth of Chinese products, including many consumer products like furniture, dog leashes and fish.

白宮已向價值340億美元的中國進(jìn)口商品征收了關(guān)稅，中國也對包括大豆、豬肉和汽車在內(nèi)的美國商品征收了相似數(shù)額的稅。周二，政府宣布另外對價值2000億美元的中國產(chǎn)品征收關(guān)稅，其中包括家具、狗牽引繩和魚類等消費品。

“Is there a master plan?” asked Representative Mia Love, Republican of Utah. “I implore you to work to end this thing soon.”

“是否有總體規(guī)劃?”猶他州共和黨眾議員米婭·洛夫(Mia Love)問。“我懇請你盡快結(jié)束這件事。”

Lawmakers from both parties have been bombarded with complaints about tariffs from soybean farmers, carmakers, nail manufacturers and other businesses about the fate of their industries as they are starting to face higher steel and aluminum costs and feel the pain of retaliation from Europe and China.

兩黨立法者接到大豆種植者、汽車制造商、釘子制造商和其他企業(yè)的大量投訴，他們面臨更高的鋼鋁成本，來自歐洲和中國的報復(fù)令他們蒙受損失，因此擔(dān)心自己所在行業(yè)的命運。

On Thursday they pressed Mr. Mnuchin, who is seen as a voice of moderation on trade in the administration, to persuade Mr. Trump to back away from the trade war.

馬努欽被視為政府內(nèi)貿(mào)易方面的溫和派，周四，立法者們向馬努欽施壓，要求他說服特朗普放棄貿(mào)易戰(zhàn)。

Representative Jeb Hensarling, Republican of Texas and chairman of the committee, told Mr. Mnuchin that he was deeply concerned about the state of global trade and signs that business optimism was starting to wane. He said that he was not impressed with the lone trade deal that Mr. Trump has struck, with South Korea, and warned that the strong run of economic growth was at risk.

德克薩斯州共和黨眾議員兼委員會主席杰布·亨薩林(Jeb Hensarling)告訴馬努欽，他對全球貿(mào)易狀況以及商業(yè)樂觀情緒開始減弱的跡象深表關(guān)注。他說，特朗普達(dá)成的唯一一項貿(mào)易協(xié)議，即與韓國的協(xié)議，并未給他留下深刻印象;他警告說，強(qiáng)勁的經(jīng)濟(jì)增長面臨風(fēng)險。

“I would just assure you we very much are monitoring the impact on the economy of all these trade issues,” Mr. Mnuchin said in response to questions about the economic effect.

“我只想向你們保證，我們非常關(guān)注所有這些貿(mào)易問題對經(jīng)濟(jì)的影響，”馬努欽在回答有關(guān)經(jīng)濟(jì)影響的問題時說。

Mr. Mnuchin defended the administration’s approach and insisted that economic growth remained Mr. Trump’s priority, which did nothing to mollify Mr. Hensarling, a close ally of the president.

馬努欽為政府的做法辯護(hù)，并堅稱，經(jīng)濟(jì)增長仍然是特朗普的優(yōu)先事項，而這無助于安撫總統(tǒng)的親密盟友亨薩林先生。

“I appreciate the words; I am concerned about the deeds,” he said.

“我感謝這些話;我擔(dān)心這些行為，”他說。

Republicans and Democrats on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee also repeatedly — and exasperatedly — pushed another Trump administration official to detail a strategy for prevailing in the trade dispute during a hearing on Thursday morning.

參議院外交關(guān)系委員會(Senate Foreign Relations Committee)的共和黨人與民主黨人在周四上午的聽證會上，多次憤怒地要求另一位特朗普政府官員詳細(xì)說明貿(mào)易爭端中的整體戰(zhàn)略。

“The administration needs to explain to Congress where this is all headed,” Senator Bob Corker, Republican of Tennessee and the committee’s chairman, told Manisha Singh, an assistant secretary at the State Department, as she prepared to testify.

“政府需要向國會解釋一切是在走向何方，”田納西州共和黨參議員、委員會主席鮑勃·科克爾(Bob Corker)對準(zhǔn)備作證的美國國務(wù)院助理國務(wù)卿馬尼什·辛格(Manisha Singh)說。

“To my knowledge, not a single person is able to articulate where this is headed, nor what the plans are, nor what the strategy is,” Mr. Corker said.

“據(jù)我所知，沒有一個人能夠明確說出這個方向，也沒有人能說清其中的計劃和戰(zhàn)略，”科克爾說。

The committee’s top Democrat, Senator Robert Menendez of New Jersey, told Ms. Singh at another point that “I don’t understand what the pathway is here, at the end of the day.”

該委員會的民主黨領(lǐng)袖、新澤西參議員羅伯特·梅南德茲(Robert Menendez)在不同時間對辛格說，“到頭來，我還是不明白這其中的方法是什么。”

Ms. Singh, who leads the department’s Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs, defended the administration’s moves. “Our endgame is for China to change its behavior,” she said.

領(lǐng)導(dǎo)國務(wù)院經(jīng)濟(jì)和商業(yè)事務(wù)局(Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs)的辛格為政府的舉措作出辯護(hù)。“我們的最終目標(biāo)是讓中國改變做法，”她說。

After Ms. Singh tried to explain the administration’s approach, Mr. Corker replied, “That enlightened us in no way.”

在辛格試圖闡釋政府的措施后，科克回應(yīng)，“這對我們毫無啟發(fā)。”

While Mr. Trump prizes unpredictability, his approach to trade agreements is sowing uncertainty that many business leaders, officials, lawmakers and others worry could undercut an otherwise booming economy.

在特朗普青睞不可預(yù)測性的同時，他對貿(mào)易協(xié)定的態(tài)度正在播下不確定性的種子，許多商業(yè)領(lǐng)導(dǎo)人、官員、議員及其他人擔(dān)憂這可能會削弱原本能蓬勃發(fā)展的經(jīng)濟(jì)。

In an interview with the radio program “Marketplace” on Thursday, the Federal Reserve chairman, Jerome H. Powell, said that “we don’t know” how the trade dispute will play out, but that it could harm the recovery.

在周四接受電臺節(jié)目“市場”(Marketplace)的訪問中，美聯(lián)儲主席杰羅姆·H·鮑威爾(Jerome H. Powell)表示“我們不知道”貿(mào)易爭端會演變成什么樣，但認(rèn)為可能會對經(jīng)濟(jì)復(fù)蘇構(gòu)成傷害。

“I wouldn’t want to, you know, dive into a bunch of hypotheticals here,” Mr. Powell said, “but I would say, you can imagine situations which would be very challenging, where inflation is going up and the economy is weakening.”

“你知道，我不想在這里扎進(jìn)一堆假設(shè)里，”鮑威爾說，“但我會說，你能想象得出，情況會十分具有挑戰(zhàn)性，通貨膨脹會不斷上升，經(jīng)濟(jì)會疲軟。”

The Trump administration has asked China to make a wide array of changes, including reducing its trade surplus with the United States, stopping what it described as theft of American intellectual property and opening Chinese markets to American business.

特朗普政府已經(jīng)要求中國做出大量的改變，包括減少對美貿(mào)易順差，停止它所說的偷竊美國知識產(chǎn)權(quán)的行為，以及對美國企業(yè)開放中國市場。

But by giving the Chinese a long list of demands, that has encouraged Beijing to focus on those that are easiest to fulfill, said Jeremie Waterman, president of the China Center at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

但向中國提出一長列的要求，導(dǎo)致北京將重心放在了那些最為容易實現(xiàn)的方面，美國商會大中華地區(qū)高級主任王杰(Jeremie Waterman)表示。

“The administration, to a degree, has given the Chinese an off ramp,” he said. “Giving the Chinese a choice is not an optimal negotiating approach.”

“在某種程度上，特朗普政府給了中國一個出口，”他說。“給中國選擇可不是理想的談判策略”。

China has also had difficulty figuring out whom to negotiate with, after tentative agreements reached with Mr. Mnuchin and Wilbur Ross, the commerce secretary, fell through.

在與馬努欽及商務(wù)部長威爾伯·羅斯(Wilbur Ross)的臨時性協(xié)議落空后，在搞明白該與誰進(jìn)行談判的方面，中國也遭遇了困難。

“I think they’re coming to the conclusion that it doesn’t matter whether Mnuchin or Ross or anybody is in the front of the line, that it’s really going to be figuring out what Trump wants,” said Claire Reade, senior counsel at Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer.

“我認(rèn)為他們得出的結(jié)論是無論是馬努欽、羅斯還是任何人在前方都不重要，它真正應(yīng)該弄清楚的是特朗普想要的是什么，”凱壽律師事務(wù)所(Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer)的高級律師克萊爾·里德(Claire Reade)說。

In a sign of the impasse that the dialogue between China and the United States has reached, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce issued a statement on Thursday arguing that it has been unfairly vilified with false claims about its trade practices.

中美對話已經(jīng)陷入僵局，其中一個跡象是中國商務(wù)部周四發(fā)布了一項聲明，提出該國遭到了關(guān)于其貿(mào)易行為不公正的污蔑。

“This is a distortion of facts, therefore groundless,” the ministry said. “For the purpose of meeting domestic political needs and suppressing China’s development, the U.S. has fabricated a set of policy arguments that distort the truth about Sino-U.S. economic and trade relations.”

這“是歪曲事實、站不住腳的”，中國商務(wù)部表示。“美方出于國內(nèi)政治需要和打壓中國發(fā)展的目的，編造了一整套歪曲中美經(jīng)貿(mào)關(guān)系真相的政策邏輯。”

Mr. Mnuchin said on Thursday that Mr. Trump would not do anything to jeopardize economic growth. He insisted that he was going to help work with companies to get exemptions from tariffs and that he would try to persuade businesses such as Harley-Davidson, the motorcycle maker, not to move manufacturing abroad to mitigate the pain of retaliatory tariffs.

馬努欽周四表示，特朗普將不會做出任何有損于經(jīng)濟(jì)增長的事情。他堅稱，他將幫助企業(yè)努力獲得關(guān)稅豁免，并且表示他還會試圖說服例如摩托車生產(chǎn)商哈雷-戴維森(Harley-Davidson)這樣的企業(yè)不要將生產(chǎn)轉(zhuǎn)移到國外，以緩和報復(fù)性關(guān)稅帶來的傷害。

While Mr. Mnuchin was successful in staving off draconian new Chinese investment restrictions, the tariffs have kept coming and it remains unclear how much influence he really has with Mr. Trump. Despite his private reservations, Mr. Mnuchin continues to defend the administration’s trade policies.

盡管馬努欽成功地延緩了對中國新的嚴(yán)厲投資限制，但美國一直在加征更多關(guān)稅，尚不清楚他在特朗普那里到底有多大的影響力。雖然他私下有所保留，但馬努欽仍繼續(xù)為特朗普政府的貿(mào)易政策辯護(hù)。

“I can assure you that the president listens to my advice,” Mr. Mnuchin said in response to a question from Representative Gregory W. Meeks, Democrat of New York. “He is the president. Sometimes he follows my advice, and sometimes he doesn’t, which I respect.”

“我能向你保證，總統(tǒng)會聽我的建議，”馬努欽回應(yīng)紐約民主黨眾議員格雷戈里·W·米克斯(Gregory W. Meeks)的問題時說。“他是總統(tǒng)。有時候他會聽從我的建議，有時候他不會，我尊重這一點。”

Unimpressed, Mr. Meeks mocked Mr. Trump for describing himself for the second time on Thursday as a “very stable genius” and asked the Treasury secretary if he saw himself the same way.

沒有被打動的米克斯嘲笑了特朗普周四第二次將自己形容為“非常穩(wěn)定的天才”，并且問財政部長是否也這么看待自己。

“I am stable,” Mr. Mnuchin said with a chuckle.

“我很穩(wěn)定，”馬努欽笑著說。