奧巴馬敦促TPP談判國打破剩餘僵局

Barack Obama has urged the leaders of Japan and 10 other Pacific Rim economies to help him overcome the few remaining “logjams” in the way of creating a vast regional trade bloc.

美國總統巴拉克•奧巴馬(Barack Obama)敦促日本以及其他10個太平洋沿岸經濟體的領導人幫助他克服剩餘的幾個阻礙創建龐大區域性貿易集團的“僵局”。

After last week’s midterm election losses, the US president assured a meeting in Beijing of leaders involved in negotiations over a Trans-Pacific Partnership that he expected trade to be one area of bipartisan co-operation with the new Republican-controlled Congress.

在上週中期選舉失利之後，奧巴馬向在北京參與《跨太平洋夥伴關係協定》(Trans-Pacific Partnership, TPP)談判的各國領導人保證，貿易將是他與由共和黨控制的新一屆國會展開兩黨合作的一個領域。

Following years of negotiations, momentum was building towards a final agreement on the TPP, he said, and leaders needed to help “break some of the remaining logjams”. “It’s up to all of us to see if we can finalise a deal that’s both ambitious and comprehensive,” Mr Obama said. “This has the potential to be a historic agreement.”

奧巴馬錶示，經過多年談判後，TPP達成最終協議的勢頭日漸累積，各國領導人有必要幫助“打破一些餘下的僵局”。他表示：“我們能否敲定一項既雄心勃勃又全面的協定取決於我們大家。它很有可能成爲一項歷史性的協定。”

The TPP pointedly does not include China and is openly described by members of the Obama administration as a strategic response to the rise of China and other emerging economies.

TPP令人矚目地不包括中國。奧巴馬政府官員公開表示，TPP是針對中國和其他新興經濟體崛起的戰略迴應。

Mr Obama’s comments yesterday came after a weekend in which the US saw off an attempt by China to accelerate negotiations over a broader Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific, viewed by many as a potential rival to the TPP.

奧巴馬昨日發表上述言論前，美國在週末頂住了中國的企圖——中國希望加快有關創建更爲包容的亞太自由貿易區(Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific)的談判，許多人認爲亞太自由貿易區是TPP的潛在競爭對手。

With their Chinese hosts’ sensitivities in mind, the US and other TPP countries have gone out of their way to play down the possibility of any big breakthroughs in Beijing. The US has also been creeping closer to an agreement with China aimed at ending an impasse in negotiations at the World Trade Organisation over updating global tariffs on IT goods.

考慮到東道主中國的敏感，美國和其他TPP參與國特意淡化在北京取得重大突破的可能性。美國也在一直悄悄推進與中國達成協議，以便結束世貿組織(WTO)中圍繞更新IT產品全球關稅的談判僵局。

But in a statement issued at the end of the meeting, leaders made clear they were intent on closing a deal over the TPP soon. “With the end coming into focus, we have instructed our ministers and negotiators to make concluding this agreement a top priority,” they said.

但在會議結束後發表的聲明中，各國領導人明確表示，他們打算在不久之後達成TPP協議。他們表示：“鑑於終點在望，我們已指示各自的部長級官員和談判代表把達成這一協定列爲第一要務。”

The biggest obstacle facing the TPP has been the slow bilateral negotiations between the US and Japan over opening their respective agricultural and auto sectors to greater competition. Negotiators on both sides, however, say those discussions are nearing a conclusion.

TPP迄今面臨的最大障礙是美日在各自開放農業和汽車行業、加大競爭方面的談判進展緩慢。然而，兩國談判代表均表示，談判接近尾聲。

Trade ministers from the 12 countries also indicated they had made “substantial progress” in other key areas. These included rules on intellectual property, new rules of origin, guidelines for state-owned enterprises and “enforceable” environmental and labour standards.

12個國家的貿易部長們還暗示，他們在其他關鍵領域取得了“重大進展”。這些進展包括知識產權規則、新的原產地規則、國有企業指引以及“可執行的”環境和勞工標準。

The TPP discussions have accelerated over the past six months in large part because US negotiators and their counterparts recognise that if a deal is not done by early next year it is likely to run up against presidential politics and the 2016 election in the US. Mr Obama’s trade agenda, blocked by Democrats in Congress for much of this year, also appears to face an easier political path at home after the midterm losses.

TPP談判之所以在過去6個月加速，在很大程度上是因爲美國和其他國家的談判代表認識到，如果到明年年初還沒有達成協議，它就可能遭遇總統政治和2016年美國大選。在中期選舉失利之後，奧巴馬的貿易議程在國內的政治道路似乎也變得容易了一些——在今年大部分時間，這些貿易議程遭到國會中的民主黨人的阻擾。

Senior Republicans last week said they were willing to work with the president on trade and nominated giving him all-important “fast-track” authority to conclude trade agreements as a priority.

資深共和黨人上週表示，他們願意與奧巴馬在貿易領域合作，並提到給予他至關重要的“快車道”談判授權，以求從快締結貿易協定。