欧洲钢铁制造商呼吁强化贸易防御

Europe’s steelmakers are urging EU leaders to take a tougher stance on unfair trade to help preserve the industry on the continent at a time when it is under pressure from cheap Chinese imports.

欧洲钢铁制造商敦促欧盟领导人对不公平贸易采取更强硬立场，以保护遭遇中国廉价钢材压力的欧洲钢铁业。

In a letter seen by the FT, top executives from more than 50 companies - including ArcelorMittal, Tata Steel and ThyssenKrupp - have called on member states to bolster the bloc’s trade defences.

在英国《金融时报》看到的一封信中，包括安赛乐米塔尔(ArcelorMittal)、塔塔钢铁(Tata Steel)、蒂森克虏伯(ThyssenKrupp)在内的50多家公司的高管呼吁欧盟各成员国强化欧盟的贸易防御。

With China seeking the coveted status as a “market economy” in trade disputes, which opponents warn would give Beijing a “licence to dump”, European steelmakers also want Brussels to adopt a position similar to the US by refusing any status that would allow dumping.

中国正在争取贸易争端中的“市场经济”地位，反对者警告称，这将赋予北京一张“倾销许可证”。欧洲钢铁制造商希望布鲁塞尔也采取类似美国的立场，拒绝给予可能为倾销开启大门的任何地位。

The intervention comes amid ratcheting trade tensions and a rising tide of protectionism, as a popular backlash in the west against the perceived ills of globalisation grows.

此番呼吁正值贸易关系日趋紧张、保护主义不断升温之际，西方民众抵制全球化在他们眼中的种种弊端。

Europe’s steel industry was battered by a collapse in prices for the metal last year, triggered by global oversupply and a wave of cheap imports into the bloc.

去年，由全球钢材供应过剩以及大量廉价钢材进入欧盟导致的钢材价格暴跌，使欧洲钢铁业遭受重创。

China in particular is accused of distorting competition by subsidising lossmaking companies and dumping excess material on to international markets at unfairly low prices. Brussels has enacted tariffs against types of steel from a number of countries, but critics say it takes too long to act and is insufficiently robust.

中国尤其被指责通过补贴亏损的钢厂并以不公平的低价向国际市场倾销过剩钢材而扭曲了竞争。布鲁塞尔已对来自多个国家的多种钢材加征了关税，但批评人士称其行动太迟缓，且不够强硬。

“EU trade defence instruments are very slow to deploy compared to our trade partners,” reads the letter, drafted by the lobby body Eurofer ahead of a European leaders’ summit in Brussels this week.

信中称：“相比贸易伙伴，欧盟实施贸易救济措施的速度非常慢。”这封信由游说机构欧洲钢铁联盟(Eurofer)在本周欧盟领导人在布鲁塞尔举行峰会之前起草。

“In addition, the effectiveness of the EU anti-dumping instrument is uncertain, producing measures which are significantly below the calculated size of the of the dumping, often not even a tenth of US measures”.

“此外，欧盟反倾销手段的有效性并不确定，所采取措施相对估算的倾销规模明显不足，常常不及美国措施力度的十分之一。”

Demands outlined in the text include the suspension, in certain cases, of the so-called “lesser duty rule”, under which EU duties are calculated. This would in effect remove a cap on levies.

信中列出的要求包括在某些情况下暂停实施欧盟计算关税使用的所谓“从低征税规则”(lesser duty rule)。此举实际上等于取消关税上限。

The European Commission has already proposed a strengthening of the legal tools at its disposal, but there are deep divisions among members states. Britain is among a cabal of countries opposed to the plans, first tabled in 2013, despite heavy job losses in the UK steel industry over the past year.

欧盟委员会(European Commission)已提出一个强化版法律工具供其使用，但各成员国之间存在深刻分歧。英国自该计划2013年首次提交以来，一直是反对国家之一，尽管过去一年英国钢铁业工作岗位流失严重。

A Commission spokesperson said: “[W]e need to reinforce our trade defence instruments to be able to face the challenges of globalisation.

欧盟委员会发言人表示：“我们需要加强我们的贸易防御手段，以便能够面对全球化挑战。”

“We have an unprecedented number of anti-dumping and anti-subsidy measures in place on steel products and we’re making full use of the available instruments. But these are not enough”.

“我们对钢铁产品采取了数量空前的反倾销和反补贴措施，而且我们充分利用了现有工具，但这些还不够。”

The EU’s executive arm will try to unblock the legislation’s progress this week at the Brussels summit, at which trade policy will be one of the main topics.

这个欧盟执行机构将于本周在布鲁塞尔峰会上试图开启这一立法进程，贸易政策将是此次峰会主要议题之一。

The open letter also touches on the contentious issue of China’s desire to be classified as a market economy, a status that Beijing says it is automatically entitled to obtain at the end of the year under World Trade Organisation rules. Supporters such as the UK say it would boost investment between Europe and China, but detractors believe it would become harder to impose tariffs.

公开信还谈到中国想获得市场经济地位的争议性问题，北京方面表示根据世界贸易组织(WTO)规则，中国应该在今年底自动获得该资格。英国等支持者表示这将推动欧洲与中国之间的投资，但批评者认为这将加大征收关税的难度。

While the debate in Europe has moved on from a simple binary answer to the question, steelmakers want the EU’s anti-dumping regulation to include the bloc’s own criteria for when a country is a market economy, with the burden of proof remaining on exporters into the single market.

尽管欧洲的辩论已超越对这个问题的简单二元答案，但钢铁商希望欧盟的反倾销法规包括该区域自己对市场经济国家的认定标准，举证责任仍落在向欧盟单一市场出口的出口商身上。

The Eurofer letter also calls for a more favourable treatment for the sector under the EU’s emissions trading scheme.

欧洲钢铁联盟的信还呼吁在欧盟碳排放交易机制下对该行业更加优待。