经济学人财经 || 贸易过招-美法好戏即将上演

International tax

国际税务

Trading blows

贸易过招

France has borrowed a tactic from America’s president. Expect fireworks

以其人之道还治其人之身 美法好戏即将上演

“Don’t tax you, don’t tax me, tax that fellow behind the tree.” Historically, this rhyme has poked fun at the tax-shy American public. Today it reflects complaints against the French government, which on July 25th introduced a tax on digital services. American companies such as Amazon, Facebook and Google are protesting that they are being treated like the fellow behind the tree. President Donald Trump is itching to hit back. Unilateralism is a language he can understand.

“不要对你征税，不要对我征税，对那些树后的人们征税。”在过去，这几句打油诗用来取笑避税的美国公众。如今它反映了对法国政府于7月25日宣告征收数字服务税的抱怨。美国公司如亚马逊、脸书以及谷歌等均抗议他们被当成”那些树后的人们”。特朗普总统迫不及待想要回击。单边主义/措施才是他能理解的语言（指仅美国政府能实施单边主义政策）。

注：

1. 关于“Don’t tax you, don’t tax me, tax that fellow behind the tree”的由来：

拉塞尔·比利厄·朗任美国参议院财政委员会主席的七年时间里，听到各种各样税收立法的提议，但大多数人对税收都有相同的看法。由此，他把普遍看法哼成押韵的几句话“不要对你征税，也不要对我征税，对那些树后的人征税”。

拉塞尔·比利厄·朗税改的贡献主要为1964年初成功地推动了肯尼迪总统提出的主要减税法案，其他贡献包括推动所得税减免政策，旨在减少低收入家庭的税收负担。所得税减免政策使美国400多万人脱离贫困线，被称为“全国最有效的针对工薪家庭的反贫困项目”。

2. https://quoteinvestigator.com/2014/04/04/tax-tree/

At the heart of the dispute lies a mismatch between where companies make their profits and where those profits are booked for tax purposes. Governments wail that as data and ideas can zip across borders, taxable profits can slip between their tax-collectors’ fingers. The solution requires international co-ordination, to avoid everyone trying to tax the same stuff at once. But negotiations overseen by the OECD, a club of mostly rich countries, are taking too long for the French.

这场争论的核心是公司利润的产生地与纳税地的不匹配。政府抱怨随着数据和想法跨境快速传播，应税利润可能会从税务员的指间溜走。解决方法需要国际间合作，以避免每个国家都试图对同一物品征税。但是法国认为，由经济合作与发展组织（大部分成员国为发达国家）监督的谈判耗时太久。

注：

1.itch  v.  to have or cause an uncomfortable feeling >发痒，渴望

itch to do sth  渴望做某事

2．wail  v. to complain loudly or strongly  抱怨，哀叹

3．zip  v. to fasten something with a zip 给...以速度

Hence their levy of 3% on the revenues generated from French users of online platforms and digital advertising. The tax is blunt, but that is part of the point. It is meant as an interim measure, to be ditched once an international agreement is reached. It could even make a deal more likely. Affected companies may prefer that to unilateral taxes, and lobby for it.

因此，从法国在线平台和数字广告用户获得的收入，要被征收3％的税。这样的征税是生硬的，但就某种角度来说，这便是它存在的意义。这意味着它是一项一旦国际协议达成后就会被抛弃的过渡性措施。它甚至更有可能促成某种交易的达成，例如受影响的公司可能更愿意单边征税，并为此进行游说。

注：
1. .lobby for 游说议员；为…游说

2. digital advertising 数字广告，也叫网络营销。指通过网络向潜在消费者投送的广告。

Not surprisingly, the Trump administration has taken umbrage. It has begun an investigation into the French tax under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 (the same law by which it justifies tariffs on China). On August 19th eight officials heard the companies’ formal complaints. “We cannot absorb this expense,” claimed Amazon’s representative.

不出所料，特朗普政府对法国征税的这一行为表示“极为失望”。美国政府已开始根据《1974年贸易法》第301条款（对国内征收关税也是根据该规定）对法国数字服务稅发起调查。8月19日，八位负责调查的官员收到了亚马逊公司的正式投诉。“我们无法承担这笔调查费用，”亚马逊的代表称。

注:
Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974：1974年美国贸易法案第301条（Pub.L. 93-618,19USC§2411）授权总统可以采取一切适当的行动。包括报复、撤销任何行为，政策或做法。以及对违反国际贸易协定或不公正、不合理、带有歧视性色彩的外国政府采取适当措施。

No one likes new taxes, of course. But the companies do have a point. International trade rules are supposed to stop governments treating foreign companies differently from their own. And the French seem to have singled out America’s big technology firms. The tax will only hit companies with at least €750m ($830m) in global revenue from the relevant digital services and at least €25m derived from French users. Those thresholds conveniently exclude most French companies. Further clues lie in the French nickname for the levy, “the gafa tax”—a reference to Google, Apple, Facebook and Amazon.

当然，没有人喜欢新的税收。但这些公司申诉也是有理由的。国际贸易规则应该阻止政府对外国公司与本土公司区别对待。法国政府似乎已经圈定了美国的大型科技公司。该税收仅针对全球数字业务年营业收入超过7.5亿欧元（8.3亿美元），且在法国境内年营业收入超过2500万欧元的公司产生影响。而这些门槛轻易地排除了大多数法国本土公司。更多的线索在于法国此次征税行动的代号为“GAFA税”——暗指谷歌，苹果，脸书和亚马逊四家公司。

注:
GAFA税：GAFA税的想法来自欧洲委员会，该税收的征税目标指向高利润的网络技术四巨头。该法案的实施仅在2019年就将带来5亿欧元的收入。

The French appear to have defined the taxed services selectively too. Subscription-based digital services are spared, along with crowdfunding websites and digital payment services. More broadly, Hosuk Lee Makiyama of the European Centre for International Political Economy, a think-tank in Brussels, notes the inconsistency of the French position. France is keen to grab a slice of America’s digitally derived corporate profits, but is loth to agree to new rules that would allow the Chinese tax authorities to share in the spoils from French-owned luxury brands.

法国似乎也选择性地定义了应税服务。基于订阅的数字服务，以及众筹网站和数字支付服务，得以豁免。布鲁塞尔智库欧洲国际政治经济中心的Makiyama Hosuk Lee指出，更广泛地说，法国的立场是不一致的。法国一面渴望从美国数字化企业利润中分得一杯羹，另一面却不愿接受国内税务机构分享法国奢侈品牌利润的新规。

The administration seems almost certain to end up finding fault with the French. America could then complain to the World Trade Organisation. But Mr Trump is more likely to fight unilateralism with unilateralism, by raising taxes on French individuals or firms, or by imposing tariffs. The president appears particularly keen to raise duties on French wine.

美国政府几乎肯定最终会找到此次法国税收措施的漏洞。然后，美方可以向世界贸易组织投诉。但特朗普更有可能以单边主义对抗（报复）单边主义，比如对法国个人或企业增税，或征收关税。总统似乎看上了对法国葡萄酒加征关税。

If this happens, free-traders will surely grumble that Mr Trump has again chosen commercial conflict over co-operation. But the irony is that behind closed doors, his officials had been acting constructively in the multilateral talks at the OECD. Whereas Barack Obama’s administration had resisted further reforms, particularly those that could affect America’s technology companies, Steven Mnuchin, Mr Trump’s treasury secretary, was much more open to them.

如果此事成真，自由贸易者必将埋怨特朗普又选择了商业冲突而非合作。讽刺的是，在紧闭的大门之后，特兰普的官员却一直在经合组织的多边会谈中采取建设性的行动。虽然奥巴马政府曾拒绝进一步改革，尤其是那些会影响到美国科技公司的改革；特朗普的财政部部长史蒂文·努钦（Steven Mnuchin）则对这些改革持有更开放的态度。

注：
1. behind the closed doors, 双关，既指相关国家关上门进行会议协商，也指美国“闭关锁国”的单边主义；

2. 随着互联网巨头以及数字经济的发展，其实数字税的由来已久。“2013年G20税改以来，经合组织（OECD）、欧盟（EU）、国家货币基金组织（IMF）以及许多国家提出了一系列的数字税方案。”针对美国跨国公司尤其是互联网巨头的全球避税，奥巴马政府执政末期就动议要对跨国公司征收19%的全球最低税。

3. 延伸阅读：

http://www.sohu.com/a/332778063_118622

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nytimes.com/2019/07/12/business/economy/tech-company-taxes.amp.html

http://www.crntt.com/doc/1055/0/8/4/105508464_3.html?coluid=7&kindid=0&docid=105508464&mdate=0807154850

It may seem that the French are giving Mr Trump a taste of his own medicine—using unilateral action to put pressure on a negotiating partner. But they may have made tricky discussions more difficult. Admittedly, Mr Mnuchin might not have been able to get Mr Trump’s approval for any OECD reform. But now the dispute is playing out on the presidential Twitter feed. And for once, Mr Trump will be able to deny that he started it.

法国人似乎对特朗普采取了“以其人之道还治其人之身”之法——采用单边主义行动施压于磋商伙伴。但他们可能使本就棘手的洽谈变得更加困难。不可否认的是，努钦可能无法让特朗普批准任何来自经合组织的改革。但是现在这个争议正在特朗普的推特中上演。而这一次，特朗普终于可以否认是自己先挑起争端的了。

注：

for once：on this occasion only, as an exception.就此一次; 破例一次

翻译组：

Vivian，女，金融硕士，爱潜水爱运动

Gloria，女，经济学在读，爱健身爱电影爱古怪新奇的事物

Martina，女，谷歌广告从业者，爱电影爱生活，爱金融经济

May ，男， 跨界财经、法律、政治，热恋越野跑，迷恋经济学人

校对组：

Emily，食物链底端金融民工，经济学人粉丝

Jessie Lulu, 金融从业者，爱阳光，爱细雨，爱经济学人