2018年CRI Experts: US-China trade disputes can be solved under multilateral systems

 

The head of the World Intellectual Property Organization and leading experts from U.S. and European universities are urging the U.S. and China to solve trade disputes under multilateral frameworks like the World Trade Organization, saying that everybody loses in a trade war.

WIPO Director General Francis Gurry says the ongoing¹ trade frictions² between U.S. and China is bad news all around, and is urging the U.S. to focus on the bigger picture of the global economy, instead of its own profits.

"We live in a globalized economy, and that globalized economy relies on cooperation between countries and between economic agents all around the world in various countries. And we see that, for example, in global value chains where the whole production process and distribution process is divided up into various segments with particular functions being performed by a wide range of actors across the world. And we need to consider not the end result, in terms of deficits³ or surpluses, but all the value additions that take place throughout the global value chain."

He says the multilateral trading system is necessary for a healthy and steady global economy.

"It's very important for the preservation⁴ of this cooperative globalization that has been gradually put in place in the course of last 20 years in particular, to ensure that trade tensions are managed, and trade tensions don't result in so-called trade wars."

Gurry made the remarks in New York during the launch ceremony of the "Global Innovation Index 2018," an annual ranking of the world's most innovative⁵ economies, jointly⁶ released by WIPO, Cornell University, and other partners. The GII 2018 rankings show that China broke into the world's top 20 most-innovative economies, climbing to 17th from 22nd last year, while the U.S. dropped from 4th place last year to 6th.

Bruno Lanvin, co-editor of GII 2018 and Executive Director of Global Indices at INSEAD, a business school based in France, says a trade war benefits no one.

"Clearly there are signs of tensions which are leading to negative sum results, that is everybody loses in a trade war. And it's not just US and China, it's that Europe, all emerging countries are going to suffer if the trade war is not finished soon."

He is urging the international community to restore the credibility of WTO in addressing these trade issues.

"We keep a strong multilateral arena⁷ in which these issues can be discussed. WTO has a number of committees on trades in particular, that all the right place to discuss these issues as opposed to bilateral⁸ context. So we need to make all efforts internationally to restore the credibility and reliability⁹ of this multilateral context for trade and intellectual property disputes."

Lanvin says the U.S. needs to put more strength into developing its own economy, instead of targeting other countries.

"Clearly starting a war is not generally a sign of strength, it's a sign of weakness. If you feel you are weakened in one area, if you feel your interests are threatened, you want to elevate the conflicts into a higher level. So I think it's also a matter by which the US economy will increase its level of confidence. The more confident people are going to be, the more they are going to want to play it fair in international trade matters."

1 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

2 frictions   

n.摩擦( friction的名词复数 )；摩擦力；冲突；不和

参考例句：

• Family frictions can interfere with a child's schoolwork. 家庭中的争吵会影响孩子的学业。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• As far as we are concerned, these frictions are not of our own making [have been imposed on us]. 就我们来说，这种摩擦是被动式的。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

3 deficits   

n.不足额( deficit的名词复数 )；赤字；亏空；亏损

参考例句：

• The Ministry of Finance consistently overestimated its budget deficits. 财政部一贯高估预算赤字。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Many of the world's farmers are also incurring economic deficits. 世界上许多农民还在遭受经济上的亏损。 来自辞典例句

4 preservation   

n.保护，维护，保存，保留，保持

参考例句：

• The police are responsible for the preservation of law and order.警察负责维持法律与秩序。
• The picture is in an excellent state of preservation.这幅画保存得极为完好。

5 innovative   

adj.革新的，新颖的，富有革新精神的

参考例句：

• Discover an innovative way of marketing.发现一个创新的营销方式。
• He was one of the most creative and innovative engineers of his generation.他是他那代人当中最富创造性与革新精神的工程师之一。

6 jointly   

ad.联合地，共同地

参考例句：

• Tenants are jointly and severally liable for payment of the rent. 租金由承租人共同且分别承担。
• She owns the house jointly with her husband. 她和丈夫共同拥有这所房子。

7 arena   

n.竞技场，运动场所；竞争场所，舞台

参考例句：

• She entered the political arena at the age of 25. 她25岁进入政界。
• He had not an adequate arena for the exercise of his talents.他没有充分发挥其才能的场所。

8 bilateral   

adj.双方的，两边的，两侧的

参考例句：

• They have been negotiating a bilateral trade deal.他们一直在商谈一项双边贸易协定。
• There was a wide gap between the views of the two statesmen on the bilateral cooperation.对双方合作的问题，两位政治家各自所持的看法差距甚大。

9 reliability   

n.可靠性，确实性

参考例句：

• We mustn't presume too much upon the reliability of such sources.我们不应过分指望这类消息来源的可靠性。
• I can assure you of the reliability of the information.我向你保证这消息可靠。