美國兩黨推動嚴格審查食品行業中資交易

Chinese and other foreign investors will face additional scrutiny when pursuing deals to buy American agricultural and food companies under proposals designed to protect US food safety and security.

根據旨在保護美國食品安全和糧食安全的建議，中國和其他外國投資者在角逐收購美國農業和食品公司的交易時，將面臨額外的審查。

The legislation set to be introduced in the Senate on Tuesday by Republican Charles Grassley and Democrat Debbie Stabenow come amid growing bipartisan demands for more rigorous vetting of Chinese investment in the US, which reached record levels last year.

共和黨參議員查爾斯?格拉斯利(Charles Grassley)和民主黨參議員德比?斯塔伯諾(Debbie Stabenow)週二在參議院提出立法之際，兩黨對於更嚴格地審查中國在美投資的呼聲日益響亮，去年這些投資達到創紀錄水平。

The bill would present President Donald Trump with a way to deliver on campaign promises to take a hard line on Beijing that would likely be popular in agricultural states such as Kansas, Nebraska and Iowa. The president’s plans to rip up or renegotiate deals such as the North American Free Trade Agreement are the source of increasing angst among export-dependent farmers in those states worried that they would be the first target of retaliation in any trade war.

這項法案將給唐納德?特朗普(Donald Trump)總統帶來一條兌現競選承諾的途徑，即對北京方面採取強硬立場，此舉在美國的農業州（如堪薩斯州、內布拉斯加州和愛荷華州）很可能受到歡迎。美國總統撕毀或重新談判北美自由貿易協定(NAFTA)等協議的計劃，是那些州依賴出口的農民日益擔心的根源，他們擔心自己將在任何貿易戰爭中成爲報復的第一個目標。

Under the proposals, the secretaries of agriculture and health would join cabinet colleagues on the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, which reviews mergers, acquisitions and greenfield projects to safeguard national security. It also would make food safety and security additional criteria that the multi-agency committee examined as part of its review process.

根據建議，農業部長和衛生部長將加入美國外國投資委員會(Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States，簡稱CFIUS)的內閣同事；該委員會從保障國家安全的需要出發，審查合併、收購和綠地項目。建議還將使食品安全和糧食安全列爲這個跨部門委員會進行考察的附加標準，作爲其審查過程的一部分。

“We need to make sure that in these large business transactions that involve our security interests — whether it be food, jobs, defence security and technology — that we’re looking through a lens that is what’s best to keep America strong,” said Ms Stabenow, who represents the largely industrial state of Michigan. “This is a very important part of national security and economic security.”

“我們需要確保在涉及我國安全利益（無論是食品、就業、國防安全還是技術）的大型商業交易中，透過一個最有利於保持美國強大的棱鏡來看待問題，”代表以工業爲主的密歇根州的斯塔伯諾參議員表示。“這是國家安全和經濟安全的一個非常重要的部分。”

Mr Grassley, an Iowa senator, said: “This bill is about ensuring that the US remains food-independent in the coming decades.”

愛荷華州參議員格拉斯利表示：“這項法案關乎確保美國在未來幾十年保持食品獨立。”

The genesis of the latest concerns lies in the $4.7bn acquisition of Smithfield, a US pork producer, by Shuanghui International of China in 2013 and last year’s $44bn bid for Syngenta, the Swiss agribusiness, by ChemChina.

最新關注的起因在於2013年中國雙匯國際(Shuanghui International) 47億美元收購美國豬肉生產商史密斯菲爾德(Smithfield)，以及去年中國化工(ChemChina) 440億美元收購瑞士農業綜合企業先正達(Syngenta)。

Both Ms Stabenow and Mr Grassley raised questions about those deals and pushed for greater scrutiny by the committee.

斯塔伯諾和格拉斯利都曾對這些交易提出質疑，並促請美國外國投資委員會加大審查力度。

But there is also wider debate over Chinese investment in the US, which reached a record $45.6bn last year, according to the Rhodium Group, and its strategic implications that echo concerns in countries such as Germany and Australia.

但是，圍繞中國在美投資及其戰略影響還有一場涉及面更廣的辯論，與德國和澳大利亞等國家存在的擔憂遙相呼應。根據榮鼎諮詢(Rhodium Group)的數據，去年中國在美投資達到創紀錄的456億美元。

Some in the Republican-dominated Congress have sought to use unease about Chinese deals to revive plans to introduce broader criteria for foreign investment reviews. Those include a reciprocity test that would make any industries in which China bans foreign investment subject to a similar ban in the US and an even broader economic benefits test.

在共和黨主導的國會中，一些人已試圖利用人們對中資交易的不安來重拾相關計劃，引入更廣泛的外資審查標準。這些標準包括互惠測試（它將使中國禁止外國投資的任何行業面臨美國的類似禁令）和更加寬泛的經濟效益測試。

Mr Grassley said he did not believe those sorts of broader test were necessary. But China posed a special case, he added, as it was strictly controlling many farm imports from the US and had a longstanding strategy of buying up foreign companies such as Syngenta to acquire technology.

格拉斯利表示，他不相信那些更廣泛的測試是必要的。但他補充說，中國構成一個特殊情況，因爲它嚴格控制從美國進口的許多農產品，並實行收購先正達等外國企業以獲取技術的長期戰略。

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Mr Grassley and Ms Stabenow said they hoped Mr Trump’s tough rhetoric on trade and his “America First” credo would mean he was receptive to the proposal.

白宮沒有立即迴應記者的置評請求。格拉斯利和斯塔伯諾表示，他們希望特朗普在貿易問題上的強硬言辭和他的“美國優先”信條意味着他會接受這個建議。

“It is a major issue and it is a matter of being responsible and understanding what is happening and not just let it happen without some strategic thinking on behalf of the American people,” Ms Stabenow said.

“這是一個重大問題，它關係到負責任和理解正在發生什麼事情，而不是在沒有代表美國人民進行一些戰略思考的情況下任由其發生，”斯塔伯諾表示。

“I’m hopeful that given what [the new administration] have said about American jobs and focusing on American interests this certainly falls in that category.”

“我希望，鑑於（特朗普政府）在美國就業和聚焦美國利益等問題上發表的言論，這肯定屬於那一類。”