《自然》：贸易战影响中美科学家（双语）

编者按

2018年6月22日，《自然》网站发文“中美贸易战把科学家置于焦点”分析了中美两国科技界对贸易战的反应。现中英对照仅供参考，文章版权归原作者所有，不代表本机构观点。

中美贸易战

把科学家置于焦点

原载：https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-018-05521-2

作者：美国《自然》网站

编译：学术plus

Scientific research in the United States could become collateral damage in the country’s escalating trade dispute with China. Both countries went head-to-head in mid-June over tariffs on a long list of goods that includes lab equipment and reagents. That is likely to increase the cost of scientific research, and the impact could be felt more keenly in US labs.

美国的科学研究可能会成为不断升级的中美贸易争端的附带损害。6月中旬，两国在包括实验室设备和试剂在内的多种货物的关税方面进行了正面交锋。这很可能会增加科研成本，美国实验室可能更为敏锐地感受到这种影响。

The latest skirmish in the ongoing trade war between the world’s two largest economies began on 15 June, when the United States announced a 25% tax on 818 goods imported from China. The list includes equipment used by scientists such as basic electrical parts, microscopes and geological-survey devices. President Donald Trump said the tariffs, which will start on 6 July, are intended to reduce China’s dominance in industries such as robotics, new materials and information and communications technology, and will level the playing field for US firms. The Trump administration is considering tariffs on a further 284 industrial goods, including chemicals.

世界两大经济体之间的贸易战中，最近一起冲突在6月15日，当时美国宣布对从中国进口的818件商品征收25％的税。该清单包括科学家使用的设备，如基本电子部件，显微镜和地质勘测设备。特朗普总统表示，这些将于7月6日开始关税旨在降低中国在机器人，新材料和信息通信技术等行业的主导地位，并将为美国公司提供机会。特朗普政府正在考虑进一步对包括化学品在内的284种工业产品征收关税。

A day after the US announcement, China’s Ministry of Commerce responded with its own set of tariffs on 545 US products imported to China, which will also start on 6 July. The government will apply taxes in the future to another 114 US imports — including basic chemicals and medical devices, such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machines — although it has not announced a date.

美国宣布后的第二天，中国商务部就其对中国进口的545种美国产品征收了关税，这些关税也将于7月6日开始。未来政府将对另外114个美国进口产品征税 （包括基础化学品和医疗器械，如磁共振成像（MRI）机器）尽管尚未公布日期。

US science squeeze

挤压美国科学研究

Scientists in the United States were quick to denounce Trump’s latest round of tariffs. “I am opposed to these seemingly ad hoc tariffs because it will further stretch the already anaemic scientific research budgets in this country,” says Thomas Lapen, a geochemist at the University of Houston, Texas. Equipment and supplies are the second-largest expense for his research, after paying wages. Lapen says that his costs are likely to increase because equipment or parts his team needs are on the US tariff list, such as electrical motors that drive centrifuges.

美国科学家迅速谴责特朗普的最新一轮关税。德克萨斯州休斯敦大学的地球化学家托马斯·拉彭说：“我反对这些关税，因为它会进一步压缩美国业已贫乏的科研预算。” 除了支付工资，设备和用品是他的第二大研究支出。拉彭说他的成本可能会增加，因为他的团队需要的设备或部件都在美国的关税清单上，例如驱动离心机的电动机。

Priscilla Cushman, a dark-matter physicist at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, says that research deans at US universities should be scrutinizing the list to see whether the taxes will affect their facilities.

明尼阿波利斯明尼苏达大学物理学家普里西拉·库什曼说，美国大学的研究院长们应该仔细检查清单，看看税收是否会影响他们的设施。

The tariffs could also cause havoc for large-scale experiments, such as the ADMX dark-matter detector at the University of Washington in Seattle, which is under construction. The project’s lead scientist, physicist Leslie Rosenberg, is worried that the equipment his team needs to build experiments — such as tools for power generation and distribution, and machinery that has Chinese electrical components — could be subject to the latest tariffs. “Anyone can see the tariff list, but an official must determine whether any particular procurement falls under the tariff,” he says.

Rosenberg thinks that the United States’ overall research capability will probably decline under the tariffs.

关税还可能对型科学实验造成伤害，比如正在建设的西雅图华盛顿大学的ADMX暗物质探测器。该项目的首席科学家，物理学家莱斯利罗森伯格担心他的团队所需的实验设备（例如发电和配电工具以及具有中国电子元件的机器）可能会受到最新关税的限制。他说：“任何人都可以看到关税清单，但官员必须确定是否某些采购属于特殊事项。”

罗森伯格认为，关税可能导致美国的整体研究能力下降。

But other researchers aren’t worried. Roberto Refinetti, a biopsychologist who studies biological clocks at Boise State University in Idaho, uses some small Chinese-manufactured equipment for his work, such as infrared motion detectors for monitoring rodents. He doesn’t think that the tariffs on Chinese goods will significantly increase the cost of his research, because he purchases that type of equipment infrequently.

The White House and the Office of the United States Trade Representative did not respond to Nature’s request for comment on researchers’ concerns.

但其他研究人员并不担心。爱达荷州博伊西州立大学研究生物钟的生物心理学家Roberto Refinetti在他的工作中使用了一些中国制造的小型设备，例如用于监测啮齿动物的红外运动探测器。他不认为中国商品的关税会大大增加他的研究成本，因为他很少购买这类设备。

白宫和美国贸易代表办公室没有回应《自然》对研究人员关注的评论请求。

Indirect effects in China

中国的间接效应

In China, the tariff dispute could increase the cost of standard reagents used in laboratory and medical devices that scientists import from the United States. Ruibang Luo, a bioinformatician at the University of Hong Kong who collaborates with researchers on the mainland, says that if the Chinese government interprets some tariff items literally, the taxes could apply to a broad range of US-made reagents and research devices, including some DNA sequencers.

在中国，关税纠纷可能导致从美国进口的实验室和医疗设备中使用的标准试剂成本增加。与香港大学研究人员合作的香港大学生物信息学家罗瑞邦说，如果按照中国政府字面上的解释，这些税收可能适用于范围广泛的美国制造的试剂和研究设备，包括一些DNA测序仪。

But Yu Zhou, a researcher at Vassar College in New York who studies science and technology development in China, says that the tariffs would not have a significant effect on research projects and experiments in China. She says that is because some universities have large enough budgets to absorb increased costs. Researchers could also share more equipment than they do now, or use goods made domestically and from countries other than the United States.

但是纽约瓦萨学院研究员，研究中国科学技术发展的余舟表示，关税不会对中国的研究项目和实验产生重大影响，这是因为一些大学有足够大的预算来应对成本增加。研究人员也可以分享比现在更多的设备，或者使用国产商品和非美国产的商品。

Brian Xu, a toxicologist for the scientific consulting firm ACTA in Washington DC, which works with businesses in mainland China, agrees that China’s proposal to place tariffs on US chemicals and scientific equipment is unlikely to have a major effect on Chinese research. He notes that scientists there import only a small amount of US-made chemicals, and that infrequently-replaced scientific equipment from other countries, such as Japan and Germany, is of comparable quality and cost.

华盛顿特区科学咨询公司ACTA的毒理学家Brian Xu与中国大陆的企业合作，也认为中国关于对美国化学品和科学设备征收关税不大可能对中国的科研产生重大影响。他指出中国大陆科学家只进口少量美国制造的化学品，而且可偶尔从其他国家（如日本和德国）找到质量和成本相当的替换品。

But the latest round of tariffs might not be the last. On 18 June, Trump threatened to impose additional tariffs on Chinese goods if the country does not rescind its tariffs and create a more balanced trade relationship with the United States.

但最新一轮的关税不是最后一轮。6月18日特朗普发出威胁，如果中国不撤销关税并与美国建立更加平衡的贸易关系，将要对中国商品征收额外关税。

（全文完）

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