US regulators and businesses have spoken out against an antitrust enforcement push by Chinese authorities as the issue emerges as a potential new friction point in relations between the world’s two largest economies.
美国监管机构和企业对中国有关部门的反垄断执法行动公开表达不满，这一问题正在成为全球最大两个经济体之间关系新的潜在摩擦点。
Foreign investors in China are increasingly concerned that they are being targeted in official investigations of pricing practices, such as one aimed at baby formula manufacturers earlier this year.
在华外国投资者越来越担心，他们会像今年早些时候的婴儿配方奶粉生产商一样，成为官方对定价行为的调查目标。对于中国反垄断当局对外国投资者并购内地企业的裁决，他们也表示担忧。
“China is wielding its antitrust law in a discriminatory manner targeting foreign companies,” said Jeremie Waterman, executive director for China policy at the US Chamber of Commerce, the largest US business lobby group.
美国最大的商业游说组织美国商会(US Chamber of Commerce)中国政策研究部门的执行主任王杰(Jeremie Waterman)表示：“中国正在针对外国企业歧视性地挥舞反垄断法。”
In an unusually direct speech in Beijing last month, which raised hopes that US policy makers were giving the issue greater attention, Maureen Ohlhausen, a Republican commissioner at the Federal Trade Commission, said that “political decisions” should have no place in antitrust reviews. The FTC conducts antitrust reviews in the US alongside the justice department.
他的介入源于美国联邦贸易委员会(FTC)共和党专员莫琳-奥尔豪森(Maureen Ohlhausen)上个月在北京发表的一场格外直接的演说，这激起了人们对美国政策制定者更加关注这一问题的希望。奥尔豪森警告称，“政治决策”不应出现在反垄断审核中。在美国，FTC与美国司法部一道开展反垄断审查。
In an interview with the Financial Times, Ms Ohlhausen said there needed to be greater transparency over China’s decisions. “If the Chinese make a decision to impose a remedy or block a deal it can be hard for outsiders to know what was the main motivating factor in that,” she said.
奥尔豪森在接受英国《金融时报》采访时表示，中国的决策必须更加透明。她说：“如果中国决定实施法律补救措施，或者阻止一项交易，外人很难知道主要的动因是什么。”
Despite Ms Ohlhausen’s intervention last month, US officials have generally been reluctant to confront China over antitrust rules, despite being sympathetic to complaints that deals were being unfairly blocked or approved with tough conditions. The matter has not been raised in bilateral economic and trade talks between Beijing and Washington.
美国官员通常不愿在反垄断裁决上与中国对抗，尽管他们对不公平地被阻止或以苛刻条件获得批准的交易的投诉持同情态度。中美双边经贸对话中没有提及这一问题。
Chinese companies and officials have also questioned whether their investments in the US are welcome. US lawmakers used a congressional hearing to raise concerns about Shuanghui’s proposed $4.7bn purchase of Smithfield pork, the largest Chinese takeover of a US company, which is still in the balance.
中国企业和官员也质疑中方在美国的投资是否受欢迎。美国立法者利用国会听证，提出了对双汇(Shuanghui)47亿美元收购美国猪肉生产企业史密斯菲尔德(Smithfield)计划的担心。这是迄今最大的一笔中国人收购美国企业的交易，但目前仍然悬而未决。
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