EU approves new trade talks with US

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France does not want farm tariffs to be included in trade talks

法国不希望将农场关税纳入贸易谈判

European Union countries have approved plans for trade talks with the United States.

欧盟各国批准了与美国进行贸易谈判的计划。

President Donald Trump and the head of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, agreed last year that they wanted to reduce trade barriers.

总统唐纳德特朗普和欧盟委员会主席让 - 克洛德·容克去年同意他们希望减少贸易障碍。{/ p>

The decision by EU ministers gives the Commission authorisation to conduct formal talks.

欧盟部长的决定授权委员会进行正式会谈。

But there is already a disagreement over whether farm goods should be covered by the talks.

但对于是否存在分歧谈判应涵盖农产品。

If the talks do get going, it would not be the first attempt by the two sides to make a bilateral trade agreement.

如果谈判确实进行，那么双方不会首次尝试达成双边贸易协议。

Under President Barack Obama, the US and the EU had a programme of negotiations known as the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, or TTIP.

在巴拉克·奥巴马总统的领导下，美国和欧盟有一个名为跨大西洋贸易和投资伙伴关系（TTIP）的谈判计划。

• US proposes tariffs on EU cheese and wine

  美国建议对欧盟奶酪和葡萄酒征收关税

It was very controversial, especially in Europe. Among the many criticisms from campaigners was the view that it would have given too much scope for international businesses to challenge the decisions of elected governments.

这是非常有针对性的过度，特别是在欧洲。在众多活动人士的批评中，有人认为，国际企业可能会对选举产生的政府的决定提出挑战。

In any event, TTIP was abandoned.

无论如何，TTIP被放弃了。 / p>

The proposals now coming out of Brussels are much less wide-ranging than TTIP was.

现在来自布鲁塞尔的提案远不如TTIP那么广泛。

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Breaking barriers

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EU ministers have given the Commission - which conducts trade talks on the group's behalf - a mandate to negotiate on two tracks.

欧盟各国部长已经让委员会 - 代表该集团进行贸易谈判 - 授权在两条轨道上进行谈判。

One is to seek the elimination of tariffs (taxes on imports) on industrial goods on a “reciprocal basis”.

一个是寻求消除对“工业产品的关税（进口税）”在“互惠基础上”。{/ p>

The second is intended to reduce regulatory barriers to trade, specifically in an area known as conformity assessment. That is the procedure by which regulators ensure that goods comply with, for example, safety rules before they are made available for sale.

第二个目的是减少监管贸易壁垒，特别是在合格评定领域。这是监管机构确保货物在可供出售之前遵守安全规则的程序。

The idea is to develop arrangements that would enable an agency in the EU (or the US) to certify that a product complies with all the relevant rules in the US (or the EU).

我们的想法是制定能够使代理商获得安排的安排。在欧盟（或美国）证明产品c符合美国（或欧盟）所有相关规则。

Getting goods assessed by an agency in a firm's home country can be cheaper and less difficult. The Commission says this is especially an issue for smaller businesses.

由公司所在国家的代理机构评估商品可能更便宜，也更难。委员会表示，这对小企业来说尤其是一个问题。

Analysis by the Commission said that eliminating tariffs could boost EU exports to the US by 7% and slightly more for goods shipped in the opposite direction.

委员会的分析表明，取消关税可能会使欧盟对美国的出口增加7％，而对于相反的方向。

French opposition

法国反对派

The EU's decision was not unanimous. France voted against and Belgium abstained.

欧盟的决定并非一致。法国投票反对，比利时弃权。

French officials in particular are reported to be opposed to trade negotiations with the US because of the Trump administration's decision to withdraw from the Paris Agreement on tackling climate change.

据报道，特朗普政府决定退出“气候变化巴黎协定”，特别是法国官员反对与美国进行贸易谈判。但是，法国已被取消投票。{/}

France has, however, been outvoted. But the negotiating guidelines given to the Commission do respect French concerns in that they do not allow for talks on cutting tariffs on agricultural goods.

但是，给予委员会的谈判准则确实尊重法国的关切，因为它们不允许就削减农产品关税进行谈判。

This could be a major obstacle to negotiations , because the US does want farm goods included.

这可能成为谈判的主要障碍，因为美国确实希望包括农产品。

Germany was particularly keen to make progress with the talks.

德国特别热衷于在会谈中取得进展。

President Trump is considering new tariffs on car imports. The US is an important market for German carmakers and getting the talks going could reduce the risk that the US might act.

特朗普总统正在考虑新的汽车进口关税。美国是德国汽车制造商的重要市场，进行谈判可以降低美国可能采取行动的风险。

The bilateral tension was increased further last week, when the US announced a list of European goods for extra tariffs in retaliation for subsidies to the aircraft maker Airbus. The US has won a World Trade Organization dispute in which it claimed the subsidies were prohibited under WTO rules.

上周美国宣布双边紧张局势进一步加剧欧洲货物额外关税清单，以报复飞机制造商空客的补贴。美国赢得了世界贸易组织的争议，声称这项补贴是WTO规则所禁止的。

The US is waiting for a WTO arbitrator to rule on how much retaliation it can apply. The EU has also won a case against the US over aviation subsidies to Boeing.

美国正在等待世贸组织仲裁员对其可以进行多少报复作出裁决。应用。欧盟还赢得了针对美国对波音航空补贴的诉讼。