（一）根据美国国内法单方面挑起贸易摩擦

　　美国现任政府以产业损害和保护知识产权为由，绕开世界贸易组织争端解决机制，单纯根据美国国内法挑起国际贸易摩擦，以“232条款”、“201条款”和“301条款”名义发起一系列调查。在调查中选择性使用证据材料，得出武断结论，而且未经世界贸易组织授权，非法使用惩罚性高关税对待世界贸易组织成员，严重违反世界贸易组织最基本、最核心的最惠国待遇、关税约束等规则和纪律。这种单边主义行为，不仅损害了中国和其他成员利益，更损害了世界贸易组织及其争端解决机制的权威性，使多边贸易体制和国际贸易秩序面临空前险境。

1. Unilaterally provoking trade friction on the pretext of US domestic law

Citing industrial injuries and protection of intellectual property rights, the current US administration regularly circumvents the WTO’s dispute settlement system and provokes international trade friction merely using US domestic law as a pretext, initiating a host of investigations under the auspices of Section 232, Section 201 and Section 301. These investigations involve selective use of evidence and arbitrary conclusions. Without WTO authorization, the US has illegally imposed punitive, hefty tariffs on other WTO members, which is a serious breach of the most fundamental and central WTO rules and disciplines, including the most-favored-nation treatment and tariff binding. Such unilateralist actions have harmed the interests of China and other WTO members. More importantly, they have undermined the authority of the WTO and its dispute settlement system, and exposed the multilateral trading system and international trade order to unprecedented risks.

　　对多国产品开展“232调查”。美国政府滥用“国家安全”概念推行贸易保护措施。2017年4月，美国政府依据本国《1962年贸易扩展法》第232条款，以所谓“国家安全”为由对包括中国在内的全球主要经济体的钢铁和铝产品发起“232调查”，并依据单方面调查结果，于2018年3月宣布对进口钢铁和铝分别加征25%和10%的关税，招致各方普遍反对和报复。2018年4月5日，中国率先将美国钢铝232措施诉诸世界贸易组织。美国宣布自6月1日恢复对欧盟钢铝产品加征关税后，欧盟也予以反击并向世界贸易组织申诉，指责美国的措施违反世界贸易组织规则。欧盟贸易专员马姆斯特罗姆称，美国正在进行“危险游戏”，欧盟如不作回应将等同于接受这些非法关税。截至2018年8月，已有9个世界贸易组织成员向世界贸易组织起诉美国钢铝232措施。2018年7月，美国政府又以所谓“国家安全”为由，对进口汽车及零配件发起新的“232调查”。

The US administration has conducted Section 232 investigations against the products of multiple countries, abusing the concept of “national security” for trade protectionism. In April 2017, on the basis of Section 232 of its Trade Expansion Act of 1962, the US administration initiated Section 232 investigations  against the steel and aluminum products of China and other major economies, citing “national security” reasons. In March 2018, based on the conclusions of these unilateral investigations, the US announced 25 percent tariffs on steel and 10 percent on aluminum imports, incurring widespread opposition and retaliation. On April 5, 2018, China took the lead to bring the case of US Section 232 measures against steel and aluminum to the WTO. Following the US announcement on the resumption of tariffs against EU steel and aluminum products effective from June 1, the EU struck back and appealed to the WTO, charging the US with violation of WTO rules. European Commissioner for Trade Cecilia Malmström said that the US was playing “a dangerous game”, and the EU would be accepting these illegal tariffs if it did not respond. By August 2018, nine WTO members have litigated at the WTO over the Section 232 measures on steel and aluminum. In July 2018, the US administration initiated another round of Section 232 investigations on imported automobiles and auto parts, again on the grounds of “national security”.

　　众所周知，钢、铁等属于一般性生产资料，汽车属大众消费品，与“国家安全”建立联系非常牵强。美国彼得森国际经济研究所高级研究员查德·鲍恩认为，美国汽车产能利用率超过了80%，美国约98%的乘用车进口来自欧盟、日本、加拿大、韩国和墨西哥，以汽车危及美国国家安全为由开展调查是站不住脚的。美国政府随意扩大国家安全概念范围，毫无理论和历史依据，其实质是利用相关法条赋予总统行政权力，绕过常规法律限制实施贸易保护（专栏6）。

　　图表：专栏6 美国单边主义行为引发多国谴责和共同反制 新华社发

It is self-evident that steel and iron are basic raw materials for manufacturing, and automobiles are ordinary consumer goods. It is absurd to link them to “national security”. Chad Bown, senior fellow of the Peterson Institute for International Economics, noted that the capacity utilization rate of the US automobile industry was over 80 percent and about 98 percent of US passenger vehicle imports were from the EU, Japan, Canada, the ROK and Mexico. Therefore, initiating the investigations on the ground that automobile imports impair US national security is baseless.  The US administration’s arbitrary expansion of the scope of national security has no theoretical or historical logic. Essentially, it is all about using the executive power of the US President provided for by the relevant sections of certain law to circumvent regular legal restrictions to practice trade protectionism (Box 6).