美国贸易代表宣布对中国造船和海运业展开 301 条款调查

March 2024 On March 12, 2024, the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) announced that it hadreceived a petition from five national labor unions requesting action under Section 301 of theTrade Act of 1974, as amended (Trade Act), to address the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC)acts, policies and practices in the critical maritime, logistics and shipbuilding sectors. 2024 年 3 月 12 日，美国贸易代表办公室（USTR）宣布其收到来自五个全国性工会组织的一份申请书，请求根据 1974 年《贸易法》（修订版）第 301 条，对中华人民共和国（中国）在关键海事、物流和造船领域的涉嫌行为、政策和做法采取相应措施。 Section 301 of the Trade Act authorizes USTR to take a broadarray of actions to respond to unfair foreign trade practices thatare ultimately determined – after an investigation – to burdenor restrict US commerce. USTR may self-initiate a Section 301investigation or initiate it in response to a petition. A petitionmay be filed by any interested person, and upon receipt, USTRmust review the petition and make a determination within 45days on whether to initiate an investigation. If an investigationis launched, USTR must decide whether to take responsiveSection 301 action within 12 months. Section 301 permitsUSTR to take all “appropriate and feasible action” to remedythe trade harm, including the imposition of duties and otherimport restrictions, such as fees. The petitioners allege in this new petition that the PRChas engaged in “non-market” policies through which ithas “seized market share, suppressed prices and createda worldwide network of ports and logistics infrastructurethat threaten to discriminate against US ships and shippingcompanies, disrupt supply chains and undermine vital nationalsecurity interests.” To “obtain the elimination of China’spractices” and “rebuild a vibrant domestic shipbuildingindustry,” the petitioners request the following remedies: 申请人在这份新提交的申请书中声称，中国通过采取所谓的“非市场”政策，一直“攫取市场份额，压低价格，并在全球范围内建立港口和物流基础设施网络，因此可能歧视美国船舶和航运公司，扰乱供应链，损害重要的国家安全利益”。为了“消除中国的影响”并“重建一个充满活力的美国国内造船业”，申请人要求采取以下救济措施： 《贸易法》第 301 条授权USTR采取一系列行动，针对经调查后最终确定为对美国商业造成负担或限制的不公平外国贸易行为予以回击。USTR可自行启动 301 条款调查，也可根据申请启动调查。任何相关人员均可提出申请，USTR在收到申请后必须在45 天内进行审核，并决定是否启动调查。如启动调查，USTR必须在 12 个月内决定是否根据 301 条款采取相应行动。301条款允许USTR采取一切 “适当且可行的行动”来纠正贸易损害，包括征收关税和采取其他进口限制措施（如收费）。 1.A port fee on Chinese-built ships that dock at a US port 对停靠美国港口的中国制造的船舶征收港口费 2.The creation of a Shipbuilding Revitalization Fund withproceeds from the port fee to support investments in thedomestic shipbuilding industry’s capacity, supply chainsand workforce Section 301 generally fell into disuse after the launch of theWorld Trade Organization (WTO) and its dispute settlementmechanism – but that dynamic has changed in recent years,with President Trump’s initiation of six new 301 investigations,including a Section 301 investigation on Chinese intellectualproperty rights (IPR) practices that resulted in the impositionof tariffs on approximately US$370 billion worth of Chineseimports into the US. 将港口费收入用于设立“造船业振兴基金”，支持对美国国内造船业产能、供应链和劳动力的投资 3.Actions to support stronger demand for US-built vessels 采取行动支持增加对美国制造的船舶的需求 4.Actions to address China’s drive to dominate port andlogistics infrastructure platforms and equipment 在世界贸易组织（WTO）及其争端解决机制启动后，301 条款属于已被搁置——但近些年随着特朗普总统发起六项新的 301条款调查，这种态势发生了变化。前述调查之一就是针对中国的知识产权（IPR）行为，该调查导致对价值约 3700 亿美元的中国输美产品征收关税。 采取行动应对中国为支配港口和物流基础设施等平台和设备所作的努力 5.Negotiations with other major shipbuilding countriesto address any concerns about their own governmentsupport programs and to coordinate measures to addressChina’s unfair practices 与其他船舶制造大国协商，解决其对其政府支持计划的顾虑，并协调各种措施以应对中国的不公平做法 The normal remedy at the end of a Section 301 investigationis the imposition of some form of tariff (customs duty) ongoods being imported from the target country. The problemwith addressing alleged trade practices (e.g., subsidies)involving shipbuilding or maritime transportation and logisticsservices is that a vessel is only paying a port call at a USport of entry, and the vessel itself is never imported ornever actually “enters” the US for purposes of imposition ofduties. As such, this new Section 301 petition is seeking theimposition of an extraordinary and unprecedented retaliatorytariff in the form of a port fee that would be assessed on anyChinese-built vessel entering a US port. The petitioners haveproposed port fees of US$1 million per port-call as one of thepossible Section 301 remedies. This new Section 301 petition is unprecedented in termsof the scope of alleged conduct it purports to ask USTRto investigate. It starts by alleging that virtually all Chineseeconomic policies are designed to support Chineseshipbuilding, and that all forms of Chinese economic planningare “unreasonable, unfair, inequitable and discriminatory.”The petition alleges inappropriate and unlawful subsidiesand government support without providing the same levelof evidentiary support normally required in a countervailingduty petition that would be filed with the US Departmentof Commerce and US International Trade Commission. Thepetition also alleges competition law/antitrust vi