通用電氣反對美國關閉進出口銀行

The US risks compounding the mistake it made by not joining a new China-backed Asian infrastructure bank if Republicans in Congress go through with a threat to shut down the country’s export credit agency, GE’s top international executive has warned.

通用電氣(GE)國際業務最高主管警告說，如果美國國會中的共和黨人兌現關閉美國出口信貸機構的威脅，美國可能會錯上加錯，這裏面的前一個錯誤指的是美國不加入中國支持的新成立的亞洲基礎設施投資銀行（Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank，簡稱：亞投行）。

John Rice, who oversees GE’s international operations as the industrial giant’s vice-chairman, told the Financial Times in an interview he believed that Washington’s decision not to join the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank as a founding member alongside China had been a mistake.

在接受英國《金融時報》採訪時，這家工業巨頭的副董事長、負責通用電氣國際業務的約翰•賴斯(John Rice)表示，他認爲華盛頓方面決定不與中國一道作爲創始成員國加入亞投行是個錯誤。

But he said he was also concerned about the current push by Republicans not to renew funding for the US Export-Import Bank, led by president Fred Hochberg, which is due to run out of money in June.

但他表示，他還感到擔心的是，共和黨人正推動不爲美國進出口銀行(US Export-Import Bank)提供新的資金。美國進出口銀行的行長是弗雷德•霍赫貝格(Fred Hochberg)，該行將於今年6月耗盡資金。

GE, alongside Boeing, is one of the main beneficiaries of Ex-Im financing.

和波音(Boeing)一樣，通用電氣也是該行融資的主要受益者之一。

“To opt out of AIIB and not reauthorise [the Ex-Im Bank] would send a strong signal to the rest of the world that we are not going to participate entirely,” Mr Rice told the FT.

賴斯告訴英國《金融時報》說：“既選擇不加入亞投行，又拒絕給予（美國進出口銀行）新的授權，會向世界其他地區釋放一個強烈的信號，表示我們不打算全面參與到它們中。

“We would be the only major economy without an export credit agency.”

“我們將成爲唯一一個沒有出口信貸機構的主要經濟體。”

The Republican push to close the bank comes even as most in the party express strong support for the Obama administration’s efforts to close an important trade deal with Japan and 10 other Pacific Rim economies. Republican leaders in Congress have vowed to work to quickly pass a bipartisan bill introduced last week that would give President Barack Obama the “fast-track” authority he needs from Congress to close the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

共和黨人正在推動關閉該行，儘管與此同時該黨的大多數人表示強烈支持奧巴馬(Obama)政府與日本及其他10個環太平洋經濟體達成一項重要的貿易協定。美國國會的共和黨領導人已承諾要致力於儘快通過上週提出的兩黨議案。該議案將令國會賦予美國總統巴拉克•奧巴馬(Barack Obama)其所需的“快車道”(fast-track)授權，以達成《跨太平洋戰略經濟夥伴關係》(TPP)協定。

But that advance has been accompanied by the re-emergence in recent weeks of a debate over Ex-Im Bank’s place in US trade policy that has divided Republicans.

然而，與這一進展相伴隨的，卻是最近幾周另一場爭論的再次出現，爭論的主題是美國進出口銀行在美國貿易政策中到底處於什麼位置。這場爭論已在共和黨內部造成了分歧。

While many centrists in the party support the agency’s reauthorisation, conservative critics argue that it provides unneeded subsidies to big companies such as GE which can easily obtain the export financing they need from private sources.

雖然該黨許多中間派人士支持對該行再次授權，但保守派批評人士卻聲稱，該行爲通用電氣這類大企業提供了不必要的補貼，因爲這些企業可通過私人渠道輕而易舉地獲得所需的出口融資。

The Obama administration narrowly avoided the shutting down of the Ex-Im Bank late last year. But a temporary extension to its funding negotiated then is due to run out in June and prominent Republicans such as Paul Ryan, the former vice presidential candidate who now chairs the powerful House Ways and Means Committee, have vowed to close the bank.

去年，奧巴馬政府勉強避免了美國進出口銀行的關門。然而，當時磋商達成的臨時性延長對該行撥款的決定將於今年6月到期，而多位知名的共和黨人已發誓要關閉該行，其中包括前副總統候選人保羅•瑞安(Paul Ryan)。瑞安現在執掌着大權在握的美國衆議院籌款委員會(House Ways and Means Committee)。

Mr Rice said the issue was crucial for GE and that if the Ex-Im Bank were to be shut down it was likely to have to shift production of gas turbines and jet engines overseas where it could take advantage of other countries’ export credit agencies.

賴斯表示，這個問題對通用電氣至關重要，如果美國進出口銀行被關閉，通用電氣很可能將不得不把燃氣輪機和噴氣發動機的生產轉到海外，在那裏它能夠利用其他國家的出口信貸機構。

“Some of those jobs will go away if we elect to build stuff that could have been built in the United States in other countries,” he said.

他說：“如果我們選擇在其他國家制造本可在美國製造的東西，一些工作崗位將會流失。”

Hundreds of small and medium enterprises in the US supply GE and their survival in many cases depends on Ex-Im Bank helping to arrange export financing and guarantees, he added.

他補充說，美國有數百家中小型企業爲通用電氣供貨，這些企業的生存在許多情況下依賴於美國進出口銀行幫助安排出口融資和擔保。

“The idea that Ex-Im is a fat cat support mechanism just is not true,” he said.

他說：“有人認爲進出口銀行是一種扶持有錢人的機制，這種想法是錯誤的。”

The issue of trade is also an increasingly strategic one for the United States, Mr Rice said, with the push to finalise the TPP particularly important to solidify the country’s economic influence in Asia.

賴斯說，貿易問題對美國來說也愈發是個戰略性問題，推動達成TPP對鞏固美國在亞洲的經濟影響力格外重要。

“These are going to be growing, important economies,” he said, and the US risked losing a battle for influence with China in the region if it failed to close the deal on the TPP.

他說，“這些經濟體將是重要的增長經濟體”，如果美國未能就TPP達成協定，它可能會輸掉與中國的影響力爭奪戰。

“I don’t think you have the geopolitical influence unless you have the economic influence,” he said. “I think you need both.”

“除非你擁有經濟影響力，否則我不認爲你擁有地緣政治影響力。”他說，“我認爲兩種影響力你都得有。”