美國(guó)在半導(dǎo)體領(lǐng)域嚴(yán)防中國(guó)威脅

Donald Trump’s incoming trade team is backing a call from the Obama administration to take a hard line on China over semiconductors, after outgoing officials likened the potential impact of Beijing’s investment in the sector to the devastation seen in the global steel industry.

唐納德•特朗普(Donald Trump)即將就任的貿(mào)易團(tuán)隊(duì)支持奧巴馬政府有關(guān)在半導(dǎo)體領(lǐng)域?qū)χ袊?guó)采取強(qiáng)硬政策的呼吁，此前即將卸任的白宮官員把北京方面在該行業(yè)投資的潛在影響與全球鋼鐵行業(yè)出現(xiàn)的破壞相提并論。

At a confirmation hearing this week, Wilbur Ross, who is poised to become Mr Trump’s commerce secretary and will take a lead role on trade policy, said: “The Chinese are the world’s largest consumer of semiconductors, so far mainly importing . . . from [the US].” But he was “very, very concerned” about China’s growing semiconductor sector.

在本周的提名確認(rèn)聽(tīng)證會(huì)上，特朗普提名的商務(wù)部長(zhǎng)、將在貿(mào)易政策方面扮演領(lǐng)導(dǎo)角色的威爾伯•羅斯(Wilbur Ross)表示：“中國(guó)人是世界上最大的半導(dǎo)體消費(fèi)者，迄今主要是從(美國(guó))……進(jìn)口。”但他對(duì)中國(guó)不斷發(fā)展壯大的半導(dǎo)體行業(yè)感到“非常、非常擔(dān)憂”。

Mr Ross said he had discussed the issue with Obama administration officials, who had raised concerns about China’s state-backed semiconductor sector and its potential strategic threat to the US.

羅斯稱(chēng)，他已經(jīng)與奧巴馬政府官員討論過(guò)這個(gè)問(wèn)題，后者對(duì)中國(guó)國(guó)家支持的半導(dǎo)體行業(yè)及其對(duì)美國(guó)構(gòu)成的潛在戰(zhàn)略威脅也表示了擔(dān)憂。

Technology executives had expressed concern about China’s behaviour during a recent meeting convened by Mr Trump, he said.

他說(shuō)，科技行業(yè)高管在特朗普最近召集的一個(gè)會(huì)議上對(duì)中國(guó)的行為表示關(guān)切。

The incoming administration has already promised to take a tough line on China. During the election campaign Mr Trump threatened to impose 45 per cent tariffs on Chinese imports and accused Beijing of manipulating its currency.

特朗普政府已承諾要對(duì)中國(guó)采取強(qiáng)硬態(tài)度。在競(jìng)選期間，特朗普威脅要對(duì)中國(guó)輸美產(chǎn)品征收45%的關(guān)稅，并指責(zé)北京方面操縱人民幣匯率。

But the semiconductors issue highlights one area where the Obama administration is handing it a clear plan of action. Bruce Andrews, outgoing deputy commerce secretary, warned in an interview with the Financial Times that China’s investment in its semiconductor industry posed as great a threat to the US economy as its aggressive steel and solar subsidies had.

但半導(dǎo)體問(wèn)題突顯了奧巴馬政府留給特朗普?qǐng)F(tuán)隊(duì)一份明確行動(dòng)計(jì)劃的一個(gè)領(lǐng)域。即將離任的商務(wù)部副部長(zhǎng)布魯斯•安德魯斯(Bruce Andrews)在接受英國(guó)《金融時(shí)報(bào)》采訪時(shí)警告，中國(guó)對(duì)本國(guó)半導(dǎo)體產(chǎn)業(yè)的投資對(duì)美國(guó)經(jīng)濟(jì)構(gòu)成巨大威脅，就像之前中國(guó)向鋼鐵和太陽(yáng)能產(chǎn)業(yè)大舉提供補(bǔ)貼那樣。

“With the internet of things and the explosion of the digital economy, semiconductors are a foundational technology, and the United States has always had the most innovative and world-leading companies,” Mr Andrews said.

“在物聯(lián)網(wǎng)問(wèn)世和數(shù)字經(jīng)濟(jì)爆炸式增長(zhǎng)之際，半導(dǎo)體是一種基礎(chǔ)技術(shù)，而美國(guó)一直擁有最具創(chuàng)新精神和世界領(lǐng)先的企業(yè)，”安德魯斯表示。

But China had established a $150bn fund to support the sector and identified it as a strategic industry, raising the pressure on US companies. The moves also raised the prospect that China would start to distort global markets, as it had when it aggressively ramped up steel production and exports, he added.

但中國(guó)已建立了一只1500億美元的基金來(lái)支持半導(dǎo)體行業(yè)，并將其列為一個(gè)戰(zhàn)略行業(yè)，從而加大了對(duì)美國(guó)公司的壓力。他補(bǔ)充說(shuō)，這些舉措還引發(fā)了這樣一個(gè)可能性，即中國(guó)將開(kāi)始扭曲全球市場(chǎng)，就像中國(guó)在大舉增加鋼鐵產(chǎn)量和出口之后出現(xiàn)的那種局面。

The Obama administration had raised its concerns regularly with Chinese officials in bilateral meetings over the past 18 months, Mr Andrews said.

安德魯斯表示，奧巴馬政府在過(guò)去18個(gè)月的雙邊會(huì)議上經(jīng)常向中國(guó)官員表示關(guān)切。

In a report this month for President Barack Obama, a commission, whose members included current and former chief executives from chipmakers such as Intel and Qualcomm, called for the US to do more to create a supportive environment for its semiconductor companies and to retain talent.

在本月提交巴拉克•奧巴馬(Barack Obama)總統(tǒng)的一份報(bào)告中，成員包括英特爾(Intel)和高通(Qualcomm)等芯片制造商的現(xiàn)任和前任首席執(zhí)行官的一個(gè)委員會(huì)，呼吁美國(guó)采取更多行動(dòng)為其半導(dǎo)體公司創(chuàng)造一個(gè)有利環(huán)境，并留住人才。

It also called for the US to work with the EU and other allies to strengthen global export controls on sensitive semiconductor technologies and for continuing scrutiny of Chinese investment in the sector by the US committee on foreign investment.

該委員會(huì)還呼吁美國(guó)同歐盟和其他盟友合作，加強(qiáng)對(duì)敏感半導(dǎo)體技術(shù)的全球出口管制，并由美國(guó)外國(guó)投資委員會(huì)(CFIUS)繼續(xù)嚴(yán)格審查中國(guó)對(duì)該行業(yè)的投資。

On the committee’s recommendation, Mr Obama last year blocked the acquisition of German chip equipment manufacturer Aixtron by Chinese investors.

根據(jù)該委員會(huì)的建議，奧巴馬去年阻止了中國(guó)投資者收購(gòu)德國(guó)芯片設(shè)備制造商愛(ài)思強(qiáng)(Aixtron)。

The report was designed to provide an action plan for the incoming administration and to pre-empt any economic damage, said Mr Andrews.

安德魯斯表示，該報(bào)告旨在為新政府提供行動(dòng)計(jì)劃，防范經(jīng)濟(jì)損失。

“This is not about protectionism, it is about fair competition,” he said. “We need to set the circumstances so the US industry continues to be the world’s leader in terms of innovation . . . If we are producing the best technologies in the world that will be incredibly important to competing in the marketplace. But we need to make sure that all of our competitors play by the rules and don’t invest in market distorting technology.”

“這不是關(guān)于保護(hù)主義，而是關(guān)于公平競(jìng)爭(zhēng)，”他說(shuō)，“我們需要確立合適環(huán)境，使美國(guó)的產(chǎn)業(yè)繼續(xù)在創(chuàng)新方面引領(lǐng)世界……如果我們生產(chǎn)世界上最好的技術(shù)，那對(duì)于在市場(chǎng)上競(jìng)爭(zhēng)將是非常重要的。但我們需要確保所有競(jìng)爭(zhēng)對(duì)手都遵守規(guī)則，不以扭曲市場(chǎng)的方式進(jìn)行科技投資。”

The concern over the semiconductor industry echoes trade battles of the past. In the 1980s the Reagan administration moved against Japan over semiconductors as part of a broader effort to stem Japanese imports. Robert Lighthizer, Mr Trump’s pick for US trade representative, was one of the US’s top negotiators at the time.

對(duì)半導(dǎo)體行業(yè)的關(guān)注令人回想起昔日的貿(mào)易戰(zhàn)。上世紀(jì)80年代，里根政府曾在半導(dǎo)體領(lǐng)域杯葛日本，作為限制日本輸美產(chǎn)品的整體努力的一部分。特朗普提名的美國(guó)貿(mào)易代表羅伯特•萊特希澤(Robert Lighthizer)當(dāng)年是美國(guó)最高談判代表之一。