奧巴馬爭取貿(mào)易推動權遭民主黨內(nèi)反對

Obama vs. Democrats on Trade

奧巴馬爭取貿(mào)易推動權遭民主黨內(nèi)反對

WASHINGTON — President Obama is facing opposition from fellow Democrats to one of his top priorities: winning the power to negotiate international trade agreements and speed them through Congress.

華盛頓——奧巴馬總統(tǒng)在他極為重要的一項議題上，在民主黨內(nèi)部遭遇了反對，那就是取得授權從而就國際貿(mào)易協(xié)定開展談判，并使協(xié)議快速在國會得到通過。

As Mr. Obama’s team works privately to line up support for the so-called trade promotion authority, a coalition of Democratic lawmakers and activists from organized labor, environmental, religious and civil rights groups is stepping up efforts to stop him.

奧巴馬的團隊在私下里努力為所謂的“貿(mào)易推動權”(trade promotion authority)贏得支持，而此時民主黨議員、勞工團體，以及環(huán)保、宗教、民權組織正聯(lián)合起來，極力阻止奧巴馬。

“Fast track would be yet another insult to the American worker,” Representative Rosa DeLauro, Democrat of Connecticut, said at a Thursday news conference on Capitol Hill, where she predicted the effort’s defeat. “It will not happen. We are not going to do it.”

“批準‘快速通道’(fast-track)會再一次侮辱美國的工作人群，”康涅狄格州民主黨眾議員羅莎·德勞洛(Rosa DeLauro)周四在國會山舉行的一場新聞發(fā)布會上表示。她預計奧巴馬的提案不會得到國會通過，“這事成不了，我們不會這樣做。”

Winning the authority would allow Mr. Obama to finish and gain swift approval of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a sprawling pact that his administration has been painstakingly negotiating.

贏得這項權力后，奧巴馬就可以結(jié)束“跨太平洋伙伴關系”(Trans-Pacific Partnership，簡稱TPP)談判，并迅速使其得到通過。TPP是一個范圍很廣的協(xié)定，奧巴馬政府一直在艱難地談判。

But Ms. DeLauro and other Democratic lawmakers argue that the president is asking for carte blanche to secretly negotiate a trade deal that would cost American jobs, weaken food safety and financial regulations and undermine environmental and labor standards.

然而德勞洛和其他民主黨議員認為，奧巴馬是在索取秘密談判貿(mào)易協(xié)定的無限權力，這樣會導致美國失去就業(yè)崗位、損害食品安全、弱化金融監(jiān)管、破壞環(huán)保和勞工保障的標準。

The dispute pits Mr. Obama against his own party over what the president has identified as one of the few patches of common ground between him and Republicans that could yield an accomplishment during his final two years in office. Its outcome could determine the fate of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a complicated 12-nation agreement that would encompass 40 percent of the world economy and is a crucial element of Mr. Obama’s pivot to Asia. It is also animating an intraparty policy fight among Democrats that could shape the 2016 presidential campaign.

這讓奧巴馬與自己的政黨發(fā)生了爭執(zhí)，奧巴馬認為這是他與共和黨之間少有的共識之一，可以借此在他執(zhí)政的最后兩年取得一些政績。其結(jié)果可能會決定 TPP的命運，這項復雜的協(xié)議涵蓋12個國家，囊括全球經(jīng)濟總量的40%，在奧巴馬轉(zhuǎn)向亞洲的戰(zhàn)略中是一個關鍵組成部分。它也在民主黨內(nèi)部引發(fā)了政策之爭，可能會影響2016年的總統(tǒng)大選。

Mr. Obama has dispatched top officials, led by his chief envoy, Michael B. Froman, to Congress to quietly make the case for the agreement and build support for winning the trade authority.

奧巴馬派出了以貿(mào)易代表邁克爾·B·弗羅曼(Michael B. Froman)為首的一些高層官員，到國會低調(diào)地替協(xié)議辯護，試圖為拿到貿(mào)易權力而贏得支持。

“The president has directed us to be responsive to the very important questions that are being asked by members of Congress,” Thomas E. Perez, the labor secretary, said in an interview. “What’s going on now, I think, is part of the healthy give-and-take that should take place when we’re contemplating an important piece of legislation.”

“總統(tǒng)指示我們，要對國會議員提出的十分重要的問題做出回應，”勞工部長托馬斯·E·佩雷斯(Thomas E. Perez)在采訪中表示。“我想現(xiàn)在正在開展的事情，是一場有益的討價還價中的一部分，我們在考慮一項重要的立法時，應該開展這樣的討論。”

At the same time, Mr. Obama’s advisers see a ripe opportunity to win approval of his trade agenda given that Congress is fully under the control of Republicans who back trade liberalization.

與此同時，奧巴馬的顧問們認為，現(xiàn)在為他的貿(mào)易政策贏得支持的時機已經(jīng)成熟，因為共和黨已經(jīng)完全控制國會，而共和黨支持貿(mào)易自由化。

Mr. Obama has acknowledged the challenge from his own ranks, saying last month that he must do more to explain how the Trans-Pacific Partnership would help American workers.

奧巴馬承認，自身政黨內(nèi)部存在挑戰(zhàn)，并于上個月表示他必須做出更多努力，解釋TPP能怎樣幫助美國的工作人群。

Lori Wallach, the director of Public Citizen’s Global Trade Watch, said presidential efforts to secure the trade power had met with hostility from Congress since the adoption of the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement and the creation of the World Trade Organization. Those are the product of a collaboration of another Republican Congress and a Democratic president, Bill Clinton.

公眾公民(Public Citizen)旗下的全球貿(mào)易觀察項目(Global Trade Watch)主任洛麗·沃勒克(Lori Wallach)表示，總統(tǒng)取得貿(mào)易權力的努力，從《北美自由貿(mào)易協(xié)定》(North American Free Trade Agreement)在1994年生效、世界貿(mào)易組織(World Trade Organization)成立以來，就面臨了國會的敵意。這兩項舉措也是共和黨國會和民主黨總統(tǒng)比爾·克林頓(Bill Clinton)聯(lián)手的產(chǎn)物。

Those measures “woke up Congress about what ‘fast track’ means,” she said in an interview, and ever since “it’s really hard to get them to delegate that authority.” She noted that in the 21 years since those deals were approved, Congress has awarded trade promotion authority to a president for a total of only five years.

這兩個事件“讓國會對‘快速通道’意味著什么產(chǎn)生了警覺，”沃勒克在一次采訪中說，從那以來，“就很難讓他們把這項權力交給別人。”她提到，那兩項貿(mào)易協(xié)定得到通過以來的21年里，國會只向一位總統(tǒng)授予了總共五年的貿(mào)易推動權。

“For Obama, it’s particularly tricky, because that big power grab would be used for this agreement that is basically a Trojan horse for every kind of extreme corporate proposal that could not get passed in the sunshine of public debate,” she said.

她說，“對奧巴馬來說，這尤其棘手，因為如此大舉攫取權力，針對的卻是這個協(xié)議。而它基本上是一個特洛伊木馬，滿足了企業(yè)提出的每一種極端的要求，這些要求在公共辯論的眼光下根本不會得到通過。”

The White House rejects the characterization, arguing that the Trans-Pacific Partnership would raise standards across the board. Mr. Perez said officials were incorporating lawmakers’ concerns about important elements of the agreement — like the need for stronger and quicker enforcement measures — into the continuing international negotiations.

白宮否認這種說法，辯稱TPP可以全面提高標準。佩雷斯表示，官員們正在將國會議員對協(xié)議中重要部分的顧慮——包括需要建立更強、更迅速的執(zhí)法機制——納入仍在進行的國際談判中。

“The guidance from the president has been very clear: I want the best agreement that’s going to protect American workers, provide decent hours and wages, and address both environment and labor conditions,” Mr. Perez said.

佩雷斯說，“總統(tǒng)的指示十分明確：我想得到一個最好的協(xié)議，要能保護美國工作者的利益，提供體面的工時和薪水，并應對環(huán)保和勞動條件的問題。”

Republicans and centrist Democrats strongly support Mr. Obama’s trade agenda. But given the bitter partisan divisions in Washington and Mr. Obama’s aggressive use of executive action in recent months, it is unclear how unified Republicans will be in support of his trade initiatives.

共和黨和民主黨中間派強烈支持奧巴馬的貿(mào)易政策。然而鑒于華盛頓存在尖銳的黨派分歧，并且奧巴馬近幾個月來大舉運用行政權力，尚不清楚共和黨能在多大程度上聯(lián)合起來支持他在貿(mào)易方面的舉措。