据知情人士透露，特朗普政府已承诺，对承诺增加美国本土制造投入的汽车制造商放宽关税。这些人士称，这一政策转变是在与奥迪谈判、推动其在佐治亚州建设一座投资40亿美元的组装厂之际出现的。
The Trump administration has promised to ease tariffs on automakers that commit to more U.S. manufacturing, according to people familiar with the situation. The policy change emerged amid talks to get Audi to build a $4 billion assembly plant in Georgia, the people said.
奥迪计划在佐治亚州乡村地区建设一座大型汽车工厂，年产能足以达到20万辆。特朗普总统周六在该州的一场竞选集会上宣布了这一计划。与佐治亚州官员的协议于当天早些时候达成。
Audi’s plan to build a sprawling car factory in rural Georgia, big enough to make 200,000 vehicles a year, was announced Saturday by President Trump at a campaign rally in the state. The deal with Georgia officials was reached earlier that day.
部分知情人士称，奥迪高管近几周前往华盛顿，争取关税减免。奥迪由德国大众汽车所有，其在美国销售的所有汽车均从墨西哥和欧洲进口，去年缴纳的关税超过10亿美元。
Audi executives traveled to Washington in recent weeks to press for a break on tariffs, some of the people said. Owned by Germany’s Volkswagen, Audi imports all of its U.S. cars from Mexico and Europe and paid more than $1 billion in duties last year.
据了解相关讨论的人士称，这些高管得到了特朗普政府的保证，即商务部将很快推出一项针对在美投资企业的关税减免计划。
The executives received assurances from the Trump administration that the Commerce Department would soon institute a tariff-relief program for companies that invest in the U.S., according to people with knowledge of the discussions.
这些人士称，官员们仍在敲定该计划的细节，该计划很可能允许在美国工厂投资的企业获得进口汽车或零部件关税的豁免或抵扣。其中一位人士称，企业必须承诺在明年年底前开工建设工厂，才有资格享受该计划。
Officials are still working out details of the plan, which is likely to allow companies that invest in U.S. factories to receive exemptions or offsets for tariffs on imported vehicles or parts, said the people. Companies must commit to starting factory construction before the end of next year to qualify, one of the people said.
在预计对其所在政党极为激烈的中期选举之前，奥迪工厂被宣传为特朗普产业政策的一项胜利。特朗普政府一直将关税作为争取制造业投资的筹码，尽管关税也推高了许多商品的价格。
The Audi factory has been touted as a win for Trump’s industrial policy ahead of midterms that are expected to be highly contentious for his party. The administration has used tariffs as a bargaining chip for winning manufacturing investments, even as they have driven up the cost of many goods.
反过来，关税减免也为汽车制造商提供了支撑，这些企业正受到数十亿美元关税账单的沉重打击，利润遭到侵蚀，全球供应链被打乱，并被迫重新考虑制造战略。此后，许多汽车制造商已公布了在美国生产的重大投资计划。
Tariff relief, in turn, bolsters automakers slammed by billion-dollar tariff bills that are eating into profits, upending their global supply chains and forcing them to rethink manufacturing strategies. Many automakers have since unveiled significant investments in U.S. production.
这项关税减免计划很可能与商务部针对多晶硅（太阳能电池板的关键原料）关税设立的计划类似。根据该计划，太阳能企业可以向商务部提交将生产迁回美国的方案，获批后其特定产品可获得关税豁免。
The tariff-relief program is likely to be similar to one that the Commerce Department established for its tariffs on polysilicon, a key ingredient in solar panels. Under that program, solar companies can submit plans to reshore production to the Commerce Department and receive tariff exemptions for certain products upon approval.
佐治亚州官员多年来一直在争取奥迪，承诺提供激励措施并改善当地基础设施。曾参加此次访问的佐治亚州皮奇县委员罗伊·刘易斯表示，一个由州和地方官员组成的代表团最近前往德国参观了该公司的设施。
Georgia officials had been wooing Audi for years, promising incentives and infrastructure improvements in the area. A group of state and local officials recently traveled to Germany to see the company’s facilities, said Roy Lewis, a Peach County, Ga., commissioner who attended the visit.
刘易斯说，公司代表也多次前往佐治亚州考察选址。高管们曾表示，奥迪在选定佐治亚州厂址之前评估了70多个地点。
Company representatives also made several trips to Georgia to see the site, Lewis said. Audi evaluated more than 70 locations before settling on the Georgia site, executives have said.
尽管做出了这些努力，奥迪当时仍未下定决心在美国新建工厂。佐治亚州州长布赖恩·肯普在讨论该项目的新闻发布会上说：“我有点担心在我卸任之前无法完成这件事。”
Despite the efforts, Audi wasn’t yet sold on building a new U.S. factory. “I was a little worried I wasn’t gonna get that done before I got out of office,” Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp said in a news conference to discuss the project.
今年1月，大众汽车首席执行官奥利弗·布鲁姆表示，在承担巨额关税账单的情况下，公司无力负担奥迪在美国的新工厂。
In January, Volkswagen Chief Executive Oliver Blume said the company couldn’t afford a new Audi U.S. plant while footing the big tariff bill.
奥迪在美国的处境黯淡。美国关税的打击迫使这家汽车制造商提高了多款车型的价格，其美国业务还受到销量下滑和财务亏损的冲击。去年，该公司宣布计划裁减多达7500个工作岗位，以期节省开支。
Audi is on a bleak run in the U.S. The U.S. tariff hit has forced the automaker to raise prices on several models, and its U.S. business is hit by falling sales and financial losses. Last year, the company announced plans to cut up to 7,500 jobs in the hopes of saving money.
在宣布美国建厂计划后，高管们表示，该工厂是扭转奥迪美国业务局面的一个机会。竞争对手宝马和梅赛德斯-奔驰多年前就在美国建立了制造基地，这使它们受关税成本的影响总体上较小。
After announcing plans for a U.S. factory, executives said the plant was a chance to turn around Audi’s U.S. operation. Rivals BMW and Mercedes-Benz established a manufacturing foothold in the U.S. years ago, leaving them generally less exposed to tariff costs.
在佐治亚州，官员们称赞该工厂是历经多年努力取得的历史性胜利。但这一消息引发了德国政界人士和工会领导人的愤怒，他们担心国内会出现裁员。
In Georgia, officials are hailing the factory as a historic win years in the making. But the announcement sparked outrage among German politicians and labor-union leaders worried about job cuts at home.
该计划需要大众汽车监事会批准，该监事会有一半由工人和工会代表组成。德国金属工业工会（IG Metall）在公司监事会拥有数个席位，该工会批评奥迪首席执行官格诺特·德尔纳（Gernot Döllner）与特朗普同台出席政治集会。
The plan needs a signoff from the Volkswagen Supervisory Board, half of which is composed of worker and labor-union representatives. IG Metall, a German metalworkers’ union with several seats on the company’s supervisory board, criticized Audi CEO Gernot Döllner for joining Trump onstage at a political rally.
“格诺特·德尔纳在美国展示自己和奥迪的方式极其尴尬、在政治上不可接受，且不配代表该公司，”工会主席克里斯蒂安·贝纳（Christiane Benner）表示。
“The way Gernot Döllner has presented himself and Audi in the U.S. is highly embarrassing, politically unacceptable, and unworthy of the company,” Christiane Benner, the union’s leader, said.