1、 外文翻译 原文 Textile and Apparel Trade Issues（ extracts） Material Source: Specialist in Industry Economics Resources, Science, and Industry Division Author: Bernard A. Gelb Summary Textile and apparel production and international trade have been important elements of economic activity and growth since t
2、he Industrial Revolution. Major reasons are (1) textiles and apparel are basic items of consumption in all countries, and (2) textile and apparel manufacture particularly apparel is labor-intensive, requiring relatively little fixed capital for entrepreneurs to establish production facilities. Thus,
3、 these industries are major generators of jobs in many countries. Because of its importance to the U.S. economy and to many U.S. trade partners, textile and apparel trade has been a major issue in trade relations with a number of countries and regions. Other industrialized countries have faced simil
4、ar issues, and in attempts to resolve conflicts between the interests of exporters and importers, a number of agreements (multilateral and bilateral) were signed over the years generally restricting the quantities of textiles and apparel traded. A major recent event was the completion on January 1,
5、2005, of the phase out of such quotas, as mandated by the Uruguay Round of trade negotiations in the 1990s. In the last several decades, textile and apparel manufacture has been shifting to developing countries as a whole, with textiles and apparel accounting for large portions of their exports to i
6、ndustrially developed countries. Lower wages in developing countries together with the labor-intensiveness of apparel production tend to give those countries a cost advantage in apparel manufacture and a locational advantage for their textile production. Also, there have been large shifts in many in
7、dividual countries shares of world textile and apparel trade since the mid-1990s.The basic worldwide shifts have affected and continue to negatively affect the U.S. textile and apparel industries. While there have been a few intermittent increases, overall U.S. output of textiles and apparel, and as
8、sociated employment, in the mid 2000s are below peaks set in the last three or four decades, and are projected to decline further. Most trade participants, analysts, and observers expected that the quota phase out would result in increased exports of textiles and apparel by developing countries as a
9、 whole. However, it became widely believed and feared now seemingly justified that China will be a major beneficiary at the expense of most other developing countries, although India and Pakistan are expected to benefit appreciably as well. The United States and the European Union have imposed limit
10、ations on the initial surge in imports from China, as permitted by the rules governing Chinas accession to the World Trade Organization. Notwithstanding the potential difficulty for some U.S. textile and apparel industry segments, Congress has eased trade terms on apparel from Andean, Caribbean, and
11、 sub-Saharan nations in moves to boost economic growth in poorer regions. However, the preferences are contingent in many cases on requirements that beneficiary country industries use U.S.-made materials in producing apparel. In addition, the United States has concluded free trade agreements with a
12、number of countries, mainly in this hemisphere, that probably will have negative consequences for U.S. textile and apparel producers. This report will be updated as events warrant. Other Agreements In the last decade, the United States has entered into, with both large and small countries, two regio
13、nal trade agreements and several bilateral trade agreements that have been reached since the expiration of textile and apparel quotas. Some of these agreements have not yet been approved and implemented by Congress. The following focuses mainly on matters pertaining to textiles and apparel. China. A
14、 series of agreements between the United States and China and related U.S. legislation have been very important. A February 1997 Memorandum of Understanding regarding textiles and apparel, among other things, extended through December 2000 existing U.S. quotas on Chinese textiles and apparel made of
15、 most types of natural and manmade fibers, penalized China for evading quota limits on certain products by transshipping through third countries, and strengthened enforcement against such illegal transshipments. Major elements of a November 15, 1999, agreement included (a) China, upon accession to t
16、he WTO, will “catch up“ to the ATC schedule of quota phase outs by 2005 for other WTO members, (b) the United States retains the right to impose safeguard measures on textiles and apparel through the end of 2008, allowing continuation of some quotas under some conditions, and (c) China will signific
17、antly lower its tariffs on a wide range of textile and apparel products, and not impose new nontariff barriers. The terms of this agreement were incorporated into Chinas final overall WTO accession agreement. The U.S.-China Relations Act (P.L. 106-286, October 10, 2000) was enacted, partly to ensure
18、 that the WTO agreements would fully apply once China joined the WTO. Among other things, this act (a) authorized the President to grant China permanent normal trade relations (PNTR) status after it joined the WTO, provided the President certified that the terms and conditions for Chinas accession t
19、o the WTO were at least equivalent to those of November 1999, (b) established a Congressional-Executive commission to monitor and report on aspects of Chinas human rights policies, (c) directed the President to increase duties and impose other restrictions on products of China being imported into th
20、e United States in such increased quantities or under such conditions as to cause or threaten to cause market disruption to U.S. producers of like or directly competitive products, and (d) required the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) to annually assess Chinas WTO compliance. On November 10, 2001, t
21、he President certified that the terms of Chinas WTO overall accession agreement were at least equivalent to those of November 1999. As provided in that agreement, a key textile-specific safeguard provision in Chinas WTO accession allows the United States and other Member countries to impose temporar
22、y quotas on textile and apparel from China if they determine that Chinese origin imports of a product are causing “market disruption.” Under a safeguard quota, China must hold its shipments of the goods in question at a level no greater than 7.5% above the quantity entered during the previous year.
23、A quota may continue for a maximum of a year unless reapplied for, or unless the parties reach an agreement. The safeguard provision expires December 31, 2008. China officially joined the WTO on December 11, 2001, and the President extended PNTR status to China on December 27, 2001, effective Januar
24、y 1, 2002.However, the USTRs WTO compliance reports have stated that while China has made progress in meeting its WTO obligations, a number of serious problems remain and new problems have emerged. The USTRs December 2005 report stated that Chinas failure to comply with key areas of its commitments
25、largely stemmed from incomplete transition to a market-based economy. During 2006, some U.S. apparel producers expressed concern about the injurious effects of Chinas subsidies in the U.S., Chinese, and third-country markets. China has insisted there are no more government credit policies favoring t
26、he sector. Regarding a U.S. complaint that China has a fund to support technology innovation and development of core technologies and equipment in the textiles sector, China said the assistance was not a direct subsidy and that the fund was intended help upgrade the sector in light of what it descri
27、bed as the “unfair treatment“ meted out to Chinese textile exporters by other WTO members. Effects on Developing Countries The phase out of textile and apparel quotas tends to remove an obstacle to industries in lower-labor-cost nations (generally, developing countries) to win markets from their cou
28、nterparts in industrialized countries. Thus, it is reasonable to expect that the shift in textile and apparel production from developed to developing countries will continue. Moreover, there is considerable scope for the shift to at least continue, inasmuch as industrialized countries still accounte
29、d for about 59% of world textile production and 66% of world apparel production in 2004. Also, in general, elimination of quotas provides more scope to countries whose industries are more efficient to gain at the expense of countries with less efficient industries. (In this context, efficiency parti
30、cularly connotes the ability to produce at a lower cost measured in a common currency.) In some cases, whatever gains in physical sales volume that textile and apparel exporters derive as a result of the quota phase out may be offset to some extent by lower prices per unit that result from free acce
31、ss to markets. In a quota regimen, prices tend to be higher than they otherwise would be as quotas act as a rationing device. In some cases, textile and apparel producers subject to quotas benefit by receiving the higher prices (on smaller volumes) themselves. Sometimes, the higher prices are in the
32、 form of formal quota charges added to the market price by private sector exporters (manufacturers or others) that hold entitlements to quotas, or by the government that administers the quotas. A key goal of and expectation from the ATC quota phase out was that world economic welfare will improve. A
33、 summary of quantitative studies on the impact of the phase out that was prepared in connection with a conference on that subject reported that all the reviewed studies produced estimates that global welfare will increase, but with considerable variation of magnitude among the studies and considerab
34、le variation in the distribution of welfare gains by region and/or country. The estimates of most of the studies indicated that developing countries will be the main beneficiaries of the quota phase out, but some studies resulted in estimates showing that developing countries would experience dimini
35、shed welfare in the aggregate. However, the modeling results of the studies consistently indicated that there will be a considerable shift in textile and apparel production and trade to Asian and other developing countries, with such production falling and imports increasing in industrialized countr
36、ies. Similar outcomes regarding textile and apparel trade and production have been indicated by many other studies, including those by the U.S. International Trade Commission and by Hildegunn Kyvik Nords, for the WTO. China. As discussed above, most trade participants, analysts, and observers expect
37、ed that the quota phase out would result in increased exports of textiles and apparel by developing countries as a whole. During the Uruguay Round of trade negotiations, it was the developing countries that espoused the phase out most strongly. However, it became widely believed and feared now seemi
38、ngly justified that China will be a major beneficiary at the expense of most other developing countries, although India and Pakistan are expected to benefit appreciably as well. Data and other information China is an especially vigorous and strong competitor in a world textile and apparel trading re
39、gimen by virtue of its rapid industrialization, large economy, substantial natural resources, fast economic growth, and large population. Also, it has fewer trade rule restraints now that, as a member of the WTO, its quotas have expired. A major factor is Chinas quasi-privatization of its agricultur
40、al sector and consequent gain in productivity, which is releasing portions of its large rural population from agricultural work for employment in urban industrial centers. Such large availability of workers tends to restrain wage rates. The ITC study and some others see China as having low labor cos
41、ts, high productivity, locally-produced materials, and able to make “almost any type of textile and apparel product at any quality level at a competitive price.” In addition, many assert, China uses unfair trade practices such as currency manipulation. 译文 纺织和服装贸易的相关问题研究 （节选） 资料来源 : Specialist in Ind
42、ustry Economics Resources, Science, and Industry Division 作者： Bernard A. Gelb 总结： 自工业革命以来 ,纺织服装生产和国际进出口贸易已经成为经济活动和增长的重要因素 .其原因主要有 (1)纺织品和服装消费是所有国家的基本消费项目(2)纺织服装制造 尤其是服装 是劳动密集型产业 ,对于企业家 而言 ,它只需要相对较少的固定资产来构成生产设施 .因此 ,这种产业是许多国家的主要产业 ,推动着国家经济的发展 . 由于美国经济的重要性 ,在美国的贸易伙伴中 ,许多国家和地区将纺织品服装贸易的关系作为双方的主要问题进行探讨 .
43、 然而其他工业化国家都面临类似的问题 ,在过去的几年里 ,他们都试图解决进口商和出口商之间的利益冲突 ,并签署一系列协议 (多边和双边的 )来限制纺织品和服装交易的数量 .最近发生的一个事件是 ,2005年 1 月 1日的配额授权按照 1990年的乌拉圭回合贸易谈判协议的规定来完成 , 在过去的几十年 ,纺织、服装生产已经 作为一个整体转移到发展中国家 ,其中大部分的纺织品和服装出口到欧美等工业发达的国家。发展中国家能够生产出一些较为复杂的手工服饰 ,而在这些国家的工资却很低。这也为这些以纺织生产为主的国家在服装制造上有了一些成本优势和区位优势。同时，自上个世纪90 年代中期以来，许多独立国家
44、在世界纺织品服装贸易的份额上有了巨大的变化。全球的基本转变已经产生了一定的影响，并继续给美国纺织品和服装行业带来负面影响。尽管有过一些断断续续的产量增加，但是对美国整体的纺织品和服装，及与其相关的就业水平而言，从过去的三四十年里开始上涨，并在 21世纪中期达到顶峰，然而将会在将来有一定的下滑趋势。 然而 ,它已得到广泛的认可及恐慌 ,现在看起来还挺有道理的 . 尽管印度和巴基斯坦也会有所收益 .但中国将是大多数发展中国家中最大的代价受益人。尽管相关 细则允许中国加入世界贸易组织 ,但 美国和欧盟已经实施 对 从中国进口商品的限制 ,。 尽管美国纺织服装行业市场 面临 潜在的 危险 ,但美国国会
45、已经向 加勒比海地区 ,从安第斯山脉和撒哈拉以南的国家 ,在采取 行动以 提高经济增长 的 贫困地区 的纺织品减轻了贸易条款。然而在通常情况下，买方要求受益人所在国家的工业使用美国进口的材料来生产服装。 此 外 ,美国的自由贸易协定 涵盖了大量的国家主要是西半球国家，这很有可能给美国的纺织品和服装生产商带来不良的后果。这份报告将会对最近的事件进行跟进。 其他协议 : 在过去的十多年里 ,美国已经加入了 ,包括大大小小的国家在内的两个地区贸易协定和一些双边贸易协议 ,这些协议已经完成规定期限内的纺织品服装配额。然而其中仍有一些协议尚未被代表批准并实施。以下主要重点解释纺织品和服装等事项。 中国
46、: 中美两国之间的一系列问题都与美国的立法有着至关重要的联系。 1997 年2 月记录的 ,关于纺织品和服装的备忘录中 ,包括了许多其他事情 ,延伸到 2000年 12 月在中国现行的美国配额纺织品和服装 ,由很多类型的天然或人造纤维制造而成 ,为了逃避中国惩罚配额限制 ,在某些产品通过第三国进行交易 .并且非常坚决的加强对非法部分的执法 . 1999 年 11 月 15 日公布的协议的主要内容包括 :(1)中国加入世界贸易组织后 ,将会在 2005 年实现 ATC 中关于配额分配的安排 .(2) 美国保留权利保障措施使纺织品和服装顺利通过 .2008 年年底 , 在一定条件下 ,允许增加一些
47、配额指标 .(3) 中国将大大降低关税在更大范围的纺织品服装出口 ,而不是强加新非关税壁垒。本协议的条款都被 纳入中国最后的整体加入 WTO 协议。中美关系法案 (P.L. 106-286 10 月 10 号 ,2000)颁布 ,其中的一部分用来确保世贸协议可以完全申请 ,一旦中国加入 WTO。除此之外 ,该法案 (1)授权总统给予中国永久正常贸易关系地位给予后 ,加入世贸组织后 ,为总统提供了认定中国加入世贸组织的条款和条件 ,这些条款至少与 1999年 11月份颁布的条款相同 .(2) 建立了一个国会执行委员会来监督和报告关于中国的人权政策 ,(3)指导总统来增加责任并 征收税费以及其他限
48、制中国的产品 ,作为进口到美国的产品 ,若数量增加或在类似条件下 ,将会导致或者威胁到美国的商品市场 ,并且影响美国农民喜欢或者直接竞争的产品 .(4) 根据美国贸易代表的要求 ,每年评估中国的世贸活动是否符合规则。在 2001 年 11 月 10 日 ,总统已经证明中国世贸方面已全面加入，至少与 1999 年 11 月颁布的协议相符。这一项协议规定 ,一项关键的纺织品特殊防护可以帮助中国加入 WTO，并允许美国和其他成员国征收来自中国的临时纺织品和服装的配额，如果他们确定一个产品中原产地为中国的进口产品会造成“市场扰乱。”在 保障限额内 ,中国必须持有其货物的装箱单，在过去一年中问题商品的数
49、量在一定的水平上不大于 7.5%以上。一个配额 ,可能持续最多一年，重新申请 ,或双方达成一项协议的除外。保障条款到期日为 2008 年 12 月 31 日。中国正式加入世贸是在 2001 年 12 月 11 日 ,布什总统对中国的地位给予延长至 2001 年 12 月 27 日 , 于 2002 年 1 月 1 日生效。然而 ,根据世贸组织报告 ,中国关于满足 WTO 的义务的职责取得进展的同时 ,许多严重的问题依然存在 ,新的问题又出现了。 2005 年 12 月报告指出 ,中国未能遵守承诺，将来源地的主要领域转变到一 个不完整市场经济中。在 2006 年中，一些美国服装生产商表示 ,他们担心中国补贴对于美国及第三国家的经济市场具有危害作用 ,然而中国坚称没有得到更多的政府信用政策的支持。美国抱怨说 ,中国有一个基金会用来支持纺织品行业中的技术创新和发展的核心技术和设备 ,然而中国称这一帮助并不是直接资助 ,基金的目的是为了帮助部门，却被其他世贸组织成员描述成“不公平
