特朗普第二任期內発動歷來最大力度對華攻擊（1/2）

 Recently Yahoo News on-line picked up the following:

Trump Targets China With Biggest Salvo So Far in Second Term (1/2)

Bloomberg News--With assistance from Zhang Dingmin, John Cheng, Helen Sun and Shikhar Balwani.

Mon, February 24, 2025 at 12:30 a.m. PST·6 min read

(Bloomberg) --  The Trump administration took aim at China with a series of moves involving investment, trade and other issues that raises the risk ties may soon worsen between the US and its top economic rival.

In recent days, President Donald Trump has rolled out a memorandum telling a key government committee to curb Chinese spending on tech, energy and other strategic American sectors. The administration also called on Mexican officials to place their own levies on Chinese imports – a move that comes after some firms from the Asian nation shifted production to the US neighbor to avoid duties the Republican enacted in his first term.

The US also proposed fees on the use of commercial ships made in China to counter the nation’s dominance in the production of the vessels. Chinese shipping stocks fell on Monday, while the benchmark CSI 300 Index slipped 0.2%. The yuan traded onshore rose 0.1% to 7.2480 versus the dollar as of 4:21 p.m. in Shanghai.

Taken together, the steps amount to the most sweeping, forceful actions targeting Beijing of Trump’s fledgling second term and could complicate a deal to reduce China’s trade surplus with the US that the president has indicated he wants to forge.

The memo containing the order to the Committee on Foreign Investment in the US — a secretive panel that scrutinizes proposals by foreign entities to buy US companies or property – seems to be the most impactful of the flurry of moves. Referring to Beijing as a “foreign adversary,” it says the changes are needed to protect “the crown jewels of United States technology, food supplies, farmland, minerals, natural resources, ports, and shipping terminals.”

“This is likely a disappointment for Beijing, which hoped to offer a large-scale investments in the US as a concession in a negotiation,” said Martin Chorzempa, senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington. “This calls into question whether the US would be open to that kind of investment.”

China’s expenditure into North America tumbled at the end of last year below levels seen during the worst of the pandemic — a slide likely due to prospective investors waiting to see if Trump would win election in November — and the curbs present a new obstacle to any recovery in that figure.

After the memorandum was released, Beijing urged Washington to stop weaponizing economic and trade issues. The US government’s push to strengthen reviews of business ties on security grounds would seriously undermine the confidence of Chinese companies investing in the US, the Ministry of Commerce said.

The memorandum also says the US government should also review a 1984 tax deal with China that frees individuals and companies from double taxation. “Eliminating these kind of treaties just makes things very uncertain and complicated for investors because they don’t know if they’re going to be taxed,” Chorzempa said.

(to be continued)

Translation

特朗普第二任期內発動歷來最大力度對華攻擊（1/2）

（彭博社）- 特朗普政府針對中國採取了一系列涉及投資、貿易和其他問題的舉措，這增加了美國與其最大經濟競爭對手之間的關係可能​​很快惡化的風險。

近日，美國總統特朗普發布了一份備忘錄，指示一個重要的政府委員會壓止中國在科技、能源和其他美國戰略產業的支出。特朗普政府也呼籲墨西哥官員對中國進口商品徵收關稅 - 這一举措是因為一些來自中國的公司已將生產轉移到美國的鄰國，以避免這位共和黨人在其第一任期內實施的關稅。

美國也提議對中國製造的商船的使用收取費用，以對抗中國在船舶生產方面的主導地位。中國航運股週一下跌，基準滬深 300 指數下跌 0.2%。截至下午 4:21，在上海在岸人民幣兌美元上漲 0.1%，至 7.2480。。

綜合來看，這些舉措相當於特朗普剛開始的第二任期內針對北京採取的最全面、最有力的舉措，可能會使特朗普總統已表示希望達成的減少中國對美貿易順差的協議變得更加複雜。

這份包含向美國外國投資委員會（一個負責審查外國實體收購美國公司或財產的提議的秘密委員會）發出的命令的備忘錄似乎是這一系列舉措中影響最深遠的。文章稱，北京是 “外國對手” ，並表示需要做出改變，以保護 “美國的技術、糧食供應、農田、礦產、自然資源、港口和航運碼頭等寶貴資源”。

華盛頓彼得森國際經濟研究所高級研究員 Martin Chorzempa 表示： “這可能會讓北京方面感到失望，因為北京方面希望通過在美進行大規模投資作為談判的讓步”; “這讓人懷疑美國是否願意接受此類投資。”

去年年底，中國在北美的支出跌至疫情最嚴重時期的水平以下，這可能是因為潛在投資者在等待特朗普是否會在 11 月的大選中獲勝，而這些限制對追回這一數字水平構成了新的障礙。

備忘錄發佈後，北京敦促華盛頓停止將經貿問題武器化。中國商務部表示，美國政府以安全為由加強對商業關係的審查，將嚴重損害中國企業在美投資的信心。

備忘錄還表示，美國政府應該重新審查1984年與中國達成的一項稅收協議，該協議規定個人和企業免於雙重課稅。Chorzempa 說: 「取消這類條約只會把投資者的事情變得非常不確定和複雜，因為他們不知道是否會被徵稅」。

（待續）