美國歐盟尋求達成自由貿易協(xié)定
更新時間:2013-2-21 12:06:38 來源:本站原創(chuàng) 作者:佚名
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The United States and the European Union are likely to begin negotiations as early as June on what some are calling a "ground breaking" free trade agreement. International trade experts say such an agreement would have substantial economic benefits on both sides of the Atlantic. But the obstacles are many and success is far from guaranteed.
最早在今年六月，美國和歐洲可能將開啟被稱為“具有開拓性意義的自由貿易協(xié)定”的談判，國際貿易專家稱，這一協(xié)定可能會為大西洋兩岸帶來大量的經(jīng)濟利益。但是由于阻礙重重，協(xié)議的成功還遠不能保證。
President Barack Obama raised the prospects of a Transatlantic free trade zone at his annual State of the Union address.
在今年的國情咨文講話中，奧巴馬總統(tǒng)提出了跨大西洋自由貿易區(qū)的前景。
"Because trade that is free and fair across the Atlantic supports millions of good paying Americans jobs," Obama said.
他說：“跨越大西洋的自由和公平的貿易能為美國提供上百萬份的高薪就業(yè)機會�！�
European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso was quick to endorse the proposal, saying a comprehensive trade deal with the U.S. would boost Europe's flagging economy.
歐盟委員會主席若澤•曼努埃爾•巴羅佐很快就對這一提議表示支持，他認為，一個全面的歐美貿易協(xié)議能夠強有力地促進歐洲疲軟的經(jīng)濟。
"It is estimated that when this agreement is up and running, the European economy will get a stimulus of a half percent of our GDP, which translates into tens of billions of euros every year and tens of thousands of new jobs," Manual Barroso said.
他說：“據(jù)估計，如果這項協(xié)議達成并實施，歐洲GDP會提高0.5個百分點，這將每年帶來數(shù)百億歐元的收入和幾十萬的新工作。”
In short -- a win-win for developed western nations.
新的貿易協(xié)定對西方國家來說是一個雙贏的機會。
But Sharan Burrow at the International Trade Union Confederation warns an agreement based purely on economic gain will hurt workers in the U.S. and Europe.
但是，國際工會聯(lián)盟的夏朗•巴羅警告說，一個僅僅基于經(jīng)濟利益的貿易協(xié)定將損害美國和歐洲工人的利益。
"Now -- if it's collaborative, if it's built on a value set that says we want to share the wealth so tools like collective bargaining are absolutely at the core, so we get the distributional effects // it could be very interesting," Burrow said.
他說：“既然這份協(xié)議是建立在我們想要協(xié)作而共享財富的價值觀上，那么集體談判就必須是一種核心方式，這樣就會有分配效應。這很有意思�！�
The concern is that eliminating barriers to trade and investments will undermine collective bargaining agreements and shift production to areas where labor is cheapest.
有人擔憂，減少貿易和投資壁壘會損害集體談判達成的協(xié)議，并使生產(chǎn)轉移到勞動力最廉價的地區(qū)。
But trade expert Daniel Ikenson at the Cato Institute says that should not be an issue for the U.S.
但是卡托研究所的貿易問題專家丹尼爾•伊肯森認為，這對美國來說并不是問題。
"In fact, Europe's labor standards are widely considered to be higher than ours so the U.S. labor movement would be less likely to oppose the agreement," Ikenson said.
他說：“事實上，人們普遍認為歐洲的勞工標準比我們高，所以美國的工人運動不太可能會反對這項協(xié)議�！�
Instead, he says negotiations could focus on harmonizing technical and regulatory standards.
他認為談判應側重于統(tǒng)一技術和管理標準：
"If you produce something in the United States for example -- a washing machine -- the electrical cord needs to be three feet and in the European Union, it needs to be one meter, which is three feet and three inches," Ikenson said.
“如果你在美國生產(chǎn)某樣東西，比如一臺洗衣機，電源線是3英尺長，但在歐盟它得是1米，也就是3.3英尺�！�
Given that trade tariffs are already low between the U.S. and Europe, major hurdles are likely to revolve around subsidies -- the financial aid governments give such groups as farm producers and aircraft manufacturers to stay competitive.
考慮到美歐的貿易關稅已經(jīng)很低，現(xiàn)在的主要障礙很可能圍繞著貿易補貼，也就是政府的農(nóng)產(chǎn)品補貼和給飛機制造商的補助，以保證他們的競爭力。
But even if both sides are able to work out their differences, labor leader Sharan Burrow says more trade is not the cure for a weak global economy.
即便雙方都能消除這些差異，工會領袖夏朗•巴羅依然認為加強貿易并非治愈全球經(jīng)濟衰退的良藥。
"This economy is never going to get back on track in the global context unless we can do something about stopping the attack on worker's rights -- giving the world a pay raise so people can build a capacity to live on what they earn and stabilize demand," Burrow said.
他說：“除非我們能采取行動來制止對工人權利的侵犯，提高全球工人的工資，使人們有能力靠薪水養(yǎng)活自己，并穩(wěn)定社會需求，否則世界經(jīng)濟不可能重回正軌�！�
Trade between the U.S. and Europe accounts for nearly half of the world's economic output. Analysts say greater trade would further cement the partnership and help counterbalance China's growing clout.
美歐貿易幾乎占到世界經(jīng)濟產(chǎn)出的一半。分析人士認為，擴大貿易可以進一步鞏固他們的伙伴關系，以抗衡中國逐漸增長的影響力。
