专家：取消对华加征关税才是拜登政府的明智之举
Lifting tariffs right choice for Biden

There have been constant appeals by a large number of business leaders to reduce, if not altogether lift, the tariffs on Chinese goods, to help reduce skyrocketing inflation in the US. And senior US officials, including Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and more than 140 Congress members, have been discussing the issue for some time now.许多商界领袖不断呼吁取消或至少是减少对中国商品征收的关税，从而缓解美国飙升的通货膨胀率。包括财政部长珍妮特·耶伦和140多名国会议员在内的美国高官已经就该问题商讨了一段时间。

A week before Biden's remarks, on May 3 to be precise, the US Trade Representative issued a notice on statutory four-year review of Section 301 tariffs on Chinese goods. It said that, according to the US Trade Expansion Act 1974, Section 301 tariffs on Chinese goods expire on July 6, so those that have benefited from the tariffs should submit their opinions on an extension before that date. If their requests are in favor of an extension, the tariffs will continue beyond July 6.准确地说，在拜登发表讲话的前一周，即5月3日，美国贸易代表发布了一份关于根据“301条款”对中国商品加征关税的四年法定复审通知。声明称，根据美国《1974年贸易法》，对中国商品加征的“301关税”将于7月6日到期，因此那些受益于对华加征关税的美国国内行业代表应在该日期之前提交延期意见。如果他们支持延期，7月6日之后将继续征收这些关税。

If the White House follows that course, the reduction in tariffs will be too small, too late to help reduce inflation. Instead, the right choice would be to lift the tariffs altogether.如果白宫遵循这一方针，关税削减规模太小，行动太迟，将无法帮助降低通胀。相反，正确的选择是完全取消这些关税。

The figure is close to that calculated by the Chinese government in a white paper issued in 2018. According to the white paper, the lifting of tariffs on low-cost imports from China will reduce the CPI in the US by 1 to 2 percentage points. Why? Because tariffs are paid by importers, not exporters, which in this case are US companies that pass the added cost down to the consumers, be they the downstream manufacturers or individual buyers.这一数字与中国政府在2018年发布的白皮书中估算的数字接近。根据这份白皮书，对从中国进口的低成本商品取消关税将使美国的CPI降低1到2个百分点。这是为什么呢？因为关税是由进口商支付的，而不是由出口商支付的，在这种情况下，美国公司将增加的成本转嫁给消费者，无论是下游制造商还是个人买家。

Second, the tariffs have been of virtually no use in checking Chinese exports to the US. According to China customs data, Chinese exports to the US hit an all-time high in 2021-$576.11 billion, up 20.4 percent over 2018, when the previous record was set before the effects of the tariffs were felt.第二，这些附加关税在限制中国对美出口方面几乎毫无作用。根据中国海关数据，中国对美出口在2021年创下历史新高5761.1亿美元（约合人民币38975.6亿元），较2018年增长20.4%。2018年时加征关税的影响尚未显现。

And third, the US is obliged to follow international rules. A World Trade Organization panel found that the Section 301 tariffs violate the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade clauses and are thus illegal. As a member of the WTO, the US has no excuse to continue with the tariffs, still less to keep using them as a bargain. In fact, the PIIE policy brief said the US should pursue trade liberalization to reduce inflation.第三，美国有义务遵守国际规则。世界贸易组织的一个小组发现，“301关税”违反了《关税及贸易总协定》的条款，因此是非法的。作为世贸组织成员国，美国没有理由继续加征关税，更不用说继续将其作为一种讨价还价的手段。事实上，彼得森国际经济研究所政策简报称，美国应该追求贸易自由化以降低通胀。

The author is a senior fellow at the Center for China and Globalization.The views don't necessarily reflect those of China Daily.本文作者何伟文是中国与全球化研究中心高级研究员。文章观点并不代表本网站立场。