Bargaining chips 谈判筹码

Trade deals

贸易协议

Bargaining chips

谈判筹码

The World Trade Organisation draws close to its first deal for nearly two decades

世界贸易组织即将达成近二十年来的第一笔协议

Jul 30th 2015 | From the print edition

译者：Yuki

 

“WHEN you’ve already settled the price of the car, there’s no point quibbling over whether the gas tank is full.” Thus did Roberto Azevedo, director-general of the World Trade Organisation, urge WTO ambassadors this week to conclude the second Information Technology Agreement (ITA-II). They duly agreed to eliminate import tariffs on 201 new electronics products, such as high-end semiconductors, medical equipment and game consoles.

“当你已经解决了汽车的定价，还会纠缠油箱是否装满了吗？”世界贸易组织总干事罗伯托·阿泽维多，敦促WTO大使在本周达成第二项信息技术协议（ITA-II）。他们正式同意取消对201个新兴电子产品的关税，如高端半导体，医疗设备和游戏机。

The 54 countries involved cover 90% of the trade in such goods, which in turn amounts to 10% of all world trade. The deal extends the product list of the original ITA, in 1996, which included floppy disks and tape recorders, to include modern technologies such as the flash drives for smartphones. A final agreement was expected on July 24th.

该协议涉及的54个国家占据该类商品贸易的90%，而此类商品又占据全球贸易总额的10%。该协议扩展了原有信息技术协议（ITA）的产品清单。原协议签订于1996年，其清单包括软盘和磁带录音机。此次扩展加入了现代技术，如智能手机的闪存驱动器。最终协议预计于7月24日达成。

ITA-II is the first big WTO trade deal since the original ITA and has been haggled over for three years. The slowness of progress was largely due to China, Japan, Taiwan and South Korea fighting over the inclusion of goods produced by infant industries they had been protecting from international competition. India stayed away from the talks altogether, citing the impact that the first ITA had on its fledgling electronics sector. China left early on, worried that South Korean flat-screen TVs and Japanese car radios would outcompete its domestic firms.

ITA-II是自原有ITA之后，第一个大的世贸贸易协议。该协议讨价还价三年，进展缓慢的原因主要来自中国，日本，台湾和韩国。它们争论不休的焦点，在于是否将自身幼稚产业（infant industry）的产品包括其中。它们一直保护这些产业，使其免于参与国际竞争。印度干脆拒绝谈判，理由是原ITA就对其刚起步的电子产品部门造成了冲击。中国也早早退出，担心韩国的平板电视和日本汽车收音机影响将在市场竞争中打败本土公司。

The final push for ITA-II came last November, when China agreed its own bilateral extension of the ITA with America, spurring the rest of the WTO to finish its deal. China, which has rejoined the deal, has been building up its domestic computer-chip industry for at least 15 years. In 2013 it imported more than $230 billion-worth of materials for its semiconductor industry—more than it spent on oil.

推进ITA-II的最后一次努力发生于去年11月，当时中国同意与美国进行ITA的双边扩展，这带动了世贸组织的其余成员达成协议。重新加入该协议的中国，至少花费了十五年来发展本国的电脑芯片产业。2013年，中国半导体行业就进口了价值超过2300亿美元的原材料，这甚至超过了石油进口。

The deal is likely to save $13.8 billion a year in tariff payments on the $1.3 trillion global trade in electronic goods, says the WTO. Removing tariffs will open up new markets, particularly China, which has the highest levies on such goods. Tariffs on semiconductors, used in electronic circuits, are as high as 25% in some countries. Although the precise effects of the deal have not yet been studied, it will increase trade in electronics between East Asia, Europe and North America. All three regions both import and export large amounts of electronics—the EU exports €82 billion ($90 billion) and imports €68 billion.

世贸组织称，该协议每年可能为1万3千亿美元的全球电子产品贸易，节省138亿美元的关税支出。取消关税将开辟新的市场，尤其是在此类产品上征税最重的中国市场。以用于电路之中的半导体为例，一些国家对其征收的关税高达25％。尽管该协议的确切影响有待研究，它将增加东亚，欧洲和北美之间的电子产品贸易。这三个地区都大量进口和出口电子产品——其中欧盟出口820亿欧元（合900亿美元），进口680亿欧元。

Few African or South American countries participated in the negotiations, but the WTO believes that all will benefit. More trade should be good news for a global electronics supply chain that buys materials and labour from around the world. As tariffs fall on inputs like semiconductors, the rest of the developing world ought to enjoy cheaper finished electronic goods, which could very well speed innovation at home. High-tech industries played a big part in the South Korean and Taiwanese development miracles. These took place behind tariff barriers, however. Whether those developing countries that adopt ITA-II can advance without such shelter is unclear.

尽管世贸组织认为该协议会使所有国家受益，却几乎没有非洲或南美国家参加谈判。全球电子产品供应链在全球范围购买原材料和劳动力，对于该供应链而言，贸易的增加应该是个好消息。随着原材料关税如半导体关税的降低，发展中世界应该能够享受到更便宜的成品电子产品，这同时也鼓励了国内创新。高新技术产业在韩国和台湾的发展奇迹中发挥了巨大的作用。然而，这发展奇迹的背后却是重重的关税壁垒。采用ITA-II的发展中国家在没有关税庇护的条件下是否能够向前发展，这一点尚不清楚。