作者：珍妮·莱昂纳德法国与德国联合呼吁采取新措施以遏制中国进口商品，这将有助于欧盟委员会在努力重新平衡与北京的贸易关系时增强自身话语权。
By Jenny Leonard A joint call from France and Germany for new measures to curb Chinese imports will strengthen the European Commission’s position as it tries to rebalance trade ties with Beijing.
在这份提交给欧盟委员会主席乌尔苏拉·冯德莱恩的文件及信函中，欧盟两大经济体提议建立更快速的机制，以保护那些受到中国竞争对手威胁的本土产业。该计划中最引人注目的内容是一项新举措：必要时，欧盟可借此切断中国企业进入其规模达8万亿美元的商品与服务市场的通道。
In a paper and letter to Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, the European Union’s biggest economies proposed quicker mechanisms to protect domestic industries under threat from Chinese rivals. The most striking part of the plan is a new tool that could allow the bloc to shut down Chinese firms’ access to its $8 trillion market of traded goods and services, if needed.
虽然文件并未点名任何国家，但其中描述的贸易行为特征几乎完全符合中国的实际情况。
While the paper doesn’t single out any country, the description of the trade practices in question almost exclusively fits China.
欧洲各国领导人正试图达成一揽子措施，以控制不断扩大的对华贸易逆差——这一逆差正威胁着整个欧盟数百万个就业岗位。自新冠疫情结束以来，贸易逆差持续攀升；欧洲官员指出，这很大程度上是由中国的种种不公平做法所致，比如政府补贴政策。
European leaders are aiming to agree on a package of measures to control a spiraling trade deficit with China which is endangering millions of jobs across the bloc. The deficit has surged since the end of the Covid-19 pandemic and European officials say that has, in large part, been driven by unfair practices in China, such as state subsidies.
这项旨在限制中国市场准入的新举措意在表明欧盟决心重新平衡与中国的贸易关系，不过官员们也希望永远不必真正动用它。本周晚些时候，欧盟贸易专员马罗什·谢夫乔维奇将前往北京，试图就稳定双边贸易流动的框架达成协议，从而避免爆发全面贸易战。
The new tool to cut off market access is intended to show that the EU is serious about rebalancing its relationship with Beijing but officials are hoping that they will never have to use it. EU Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic heads to Beijing later this week in an attempt to negotiate a framework to stabilize the commercial flows and avert a full-blown trade war.
目前双方仍在就中国可能做出的让步进行磋商，但几乎没有官员认为这些举措能扭转当前的中欧关系走向。
While the two sides are still talking about concessions the Chinese side could make to appease the Europeans, few officials are expecting any outcomes that will change the trajectory of the relationship.
官员们表示，持续对话对于防止局势进一步恶化至关重要；谢夫乔维奇则是少数仍与中国保持沟通渠道的欧洲官员之一。目前，高层层面的政府间对话基本陷入停滞，中欧关系也已降至历史低点。
The continued talks are important to manage escalation, officials said, and Sefcovic is one of the few European officials that maintain an open channel of communication to the Chinese. At the highest levels, the government-to-government dialogue has essentially been frozen and the relationship has reached a historic low point.
熟悉欧洲各国磋商情况的官员强调，这份文件的内容固然重要，但更为关键的是它向中国传递出的信号：欧洲各强国在对华政策上立场一致，任何试图分化欧洲的企图都将落空。
Officials familiar with the discussions in European capitals stressed that what is even more important than the substance of the document is the signal it sends to China: that Europe’s most powerful nations are united in their approach and efforts to divide them will fail.
这些官员还指出，布鲁塞尔面临的风险在于：未来几个月内中国可能会试探法德两国的坚定立场。中国有可能通过拖延对话进程、作出一些无足轻重的让步来延缓欧盟采取行动，而这些举措根本无法改变双方关系的根本走向。
The risk for Brussels is that Beijing tests that Franco-German conviction in the coming months, the officials added. China could try to delay any EU action by stringing out dialogue and offering modest concessions that do little to shift the fundamental dynamic, they said.
柏林与巴黎此次采取的新立场明显有别于以往与中国的多轮谈判——过去中国官员能够绕过欧盟委员会，直接与个别欧盟成员国进行谈判施压。
The new stance between Berlin and Paris is a clear departure from previous rounds of negotiations with Beijing, where Chinese officials were able to directly bargain with and pressure individual EU member states instead of going through the commission.
不过，最终能否动用贸易手段仍取决于政治意愿，而这一点目前尚未得到体现。
All the same, the use of trade tools will ultimately depend on political will and that is yet to be demonstrated.
中国对稀土等关键原材料的掌控权使其在局势升级时拥有相当大的谈判筹码，但这也促使欧盟亟需完善自身的政策工具箱。
Beijing’s control over key materials like rare earths gives Chinese officials considerable leverage in the event of an escalation, but also increases the urgency for the EU to bolster its policy toolkit.
部分官员认为，这份立场文件显示出欧洲方面较六个月前更具强硬姿态；另一些官员则心存疑虑：等到真正要宣布具体举措时，这种势头能否延续？尤其是当中国采取报复性措施、令欧洲经济遭受冲击之时。
For some officials, the position paper shows there is a level of assertiveness that wasn’t there just six months ago. For others, there are still some questions around whether the same momentum will exist when it’s time to announce specific actions — and especially when the Chinese respond with retaliatory measures to inflict pain on Europe’s economies.
上一次欧盟对中国采取行动——即欧盟委员会对中国电动汽车征收关税时，法国政府予以支持，而德国政府则出于对本国企业在华销量的担忧表示反对。
The last time the EU took action against China, when the commission implemented tariffs targeting Chinese electric vehicles, the French government supported the move and the German government opposed it due to concerns about German companies’ sales in China.
据知情人士透露，随着双方此次就共同立场达成一致，官员们决心避免重演2024年的局面。德国工业界观点的转变增强了柏林的立场，该行业对中国带来的挑战日益感到担忧。
As the two partners worked out a common stance this time, officials were intent to not repeat the 2024 scenario, people familiar with the matter said. Berlin’s position has been bolstered by a shift in the views of German industry, which is becoming increasingly worried about the challenge from China.
德国机械设备制造业联合会主席蒂洛·布罗特曼赞扬了这份联合文件，并敦促迅速采取行动。
Thilo Brodtmann, the head of Germany’s machinery industry association, lauded the joint paper and urged quick action.
他在周一的一份声明中表示：“如果与中国的持续谈判在消除这些竞争扭曲方面未能取得实质性进展，欧盟委员会应抓住法德两国形成的势头，迅速将这些建议转化为具体措施。”
“The European Commission should capitalize on the Franco-German momentum and swiftly translate the proposals into concrete measures if the ongoing negotiations with China do not yield tangible progress in eliminating these distortions of competition,” he said in a statement Monday.