共和党失去传统盟友，美国商会反对特朗普关税政策

据路透社上周一报道，美国商界大型游说组织美国商会以往一直是共和党坚定的盟友，如今却要发起运动反对总统唐纳德·特朗普最近出台的贸易关税政策。根据对国内各州的分析，美国商会认为新关税有引爆全球贸易战的风险，将伤害本国国民。

美国商会会长汤姆·唐纳休在一份致路透社的声明中表示：“（特朗普）政府政策对之前得来不易的经济发展造成威胁。我们应该追求自由的公平贸易，现在的做法却背道而驰。”

去年12月，美国商会的300万会员企业曾非常支持特朗普推出的企业减税举措，但自从特朗普高呼对中国、加拿大、墨西哥和欧盟施加新的关税以来，美国商会与其日渐疏远。该组织希望通过商务部和被征关税国家的数据向特朗普说明，贸易战将伤害美国民众，特别是在历来支持他的州。

美国商会预计，美国出口商品将面临几十亿美元的报复性关税，具体来说，得克萨斯、田纳西和南卡罗来纳三个州分别价值39亿美元、14亿美元和30亿美元的出口商品可能成为关税攻击目标。

从近来声称要反击美国关税的其他国家政府表现来看，该预测不无根据。为回应特朗普政府的钢铝关税，加拿大宣布对价值126亿美元的美国商品施加关税，于7月1日生效。欧盟已经针对波旁威士忌、哈雷戴维斯摩托车等32亿美元的美国商品征税。中国料将对美国大豆征25%的关税，墨西哥将对美国猪肉加征关税。

近几个月来，这已不是美国商会第一次和特朗普唱反调。上月唐纳休发布声明，要求特朗普政府停止造成移民家庭在边境线骨肉分离的“零容忍”政策。他还呼吁国会立法议员保护儿时便进入美国的移民——所谓“梦想者”（因为特朗普废除了奥巴马执政时颁布的暂缓遣返儿时抵美移民的政策）。（BT365的网址是多少我）

译者：Pessy

审校：夏林

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, usually a staunch ally of the Republican party, is launching a campaign against President Donald Trump’s recent trade tariff policies, Reuters reported last Monday. With state-by-state analysis, the business lobbying giant argues the new tariffs risk a global trade war that will harm Americans.

“The administration is threatening to undermine the economic progress it worked so hard to achieve,” said Chamber President Tom Donohue in a statement to Reuters. “We should seek free and fair trade, but this is just not the way to do it.”

The chamber’s three million members applauded Trump’s business tax cuts in December, but the organization has distanced itself from the president since his call for new tariffs against China, Canada, Mexico, and the European Union. With data from the U.S. Department of Commerce and government agencies in the countries hit by the new tariffs, the chamber hopes to show the president that his trade war will hurt Americans—particularly those in states historically loyal to Trump.

The chamber found that U.S. exports will face billions of dollars in retaliatory tariffs. Specifically, Texas could see $3.9 billion worth of exports targeted, Tennessee could see $1.4 billion targeted, and South Carolina could see $3 billion targeted.

These estimates are backed by foreign government statements promising action against the tariffs. On July 1st, Canada’s measures against $12.6 billion worth of American goods went into effect in response to Trump’s steel and aluminum tariffs. The EU has already targeted $3.2 billion of American goods like bourbon and Harley-Davidson motorcycles. China is expected to implement a 25% tax on soybeans and Mexico is adding taxes to pork imports.

This is not the first time the chamber has clashed with Trump in recent months. Last month, Donohue issued a statement calling for the end of the administration’s “zero-tolerance” policy leading to the separation of families at the border. He also asked lawmakers to provide protection for Dreamers (those in the U.S. on the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals policy).