经济学人下载:美国的大规模干扰性武器(1)

Leaders
来源于《社论》版块

Weapons of mass disruption
大规模干扰性武器

America is aggressively deploying a new economic arsenal to assert its power. That is counterproductive—and dangerous
美国正在积极部署新的经济武器，以彰显其实力。这一危险举动会适得其反。

When Donald Trump arrived in the Oval Office he promised to restore America’s might. His method has turned out to be a wholesale weaponisation of economic tools. The world can now see the awesome force that a superpower can project when it is unconstrained by rules or allies. On May 30th the president threatened crippling tariffs on Mexico after a row over migration. Markets reeled, and a Mexican delegation rushed to Washington to sue for peace. A day later preferential trading rules for India were cancelled. Its usually macho government did not put up a fight and promised to preserve “strong ties”. China faces a ratcheting up of tariffs soon, and its tech giant, Huawei, has been severed from its American suppliers. The country’s autocratic leaders are enraged, but on June 2nd they insisted they still seek “dialogue and consultation”. A tighter embargo on Iran, imposed over European objections, is strangling its economy.
唐纳德•特朗普入主白宫椭圆形办公室时，承诺恢复美国的实力。事实证明，他的方法是将经济工具大规模武器化。世界各国现在可以看到一个超级大国在不受规则或盟友约束的情况下所能展现出的惊人力量。5月30日，特朗普总统威胁要对墨西哥征收惩罚性关税。市场动荡不安，墨西哥代表团赶赴华盛顿要求和平。一天后，印度的优惠贸易规则被取消。通常刚强的印度政府没有反抗，并承诺保持“牢固的关系”。中国很快将面临关税上调，其科技巨头华为也被切断了与美国供应商的联系。这个国家的领导人被激怒了，但是在6月2日他们坚持仍然寻求“对话和协商”。特朗普还不顾欧洲的反对，对伊朗实施了更严格的禁运，正在扼杀伊朗的经济。

President Trump must view this scene with satisfaction. Nobody takes America for granted any more. Enemies and friends know that it is prepared to unleash an economic arsenal to protect its national interest. America is deploying new tactics—poker- style brinkmanship—and new weapons that exploit its role as the nerve centre of the global economy to block the free flow of goods, data, ideas and money across borders. This pumped-up vision of a 21st-century superpower may be seductive for some. But it could spark a crisis, and it is eroding America’s most valuable asset—its legitimacy.
特朗普总统看到这一幕一定很满意。没有人再认为美国是理所当然的了。敌人和朋友都知道，中国准备动用经济武器来保护国家利益。美国正在部署新的策略——扑克式的边缘政策——以及利用其作为全球经济神经中枢的角色来阻止商品、数据、思想和资金跨境自由流动的新武器。对一些人来说，这种对21世纪超级大国的雄心壮志可能是诱人的。但它可能引发一场危机，并正在侵蚀美国最宝贵的资产——其合法性。