[(Title)] Merkel says open to international talks on slashing car tariffs

BERLIN — German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Thursday she would back opening talks with trading partners on lowering automobile tariffs,

德国总理默克尔(Angela Merkel)周四表示，她将再次与贸易伙伴举行关于降低汽车关税的谈判。

in what appeared to be an olive branch to US President Donald Trump as the EU battles to dissuade him from imposing hefty levies on European cars.

But Merkel said that any negotiations on lowering tariffs in one area could only be conducted with "all the countries with which we have trade in cars," rather than just with the United States.

但默克尔说，关于降低关税的任何谈判只能与"拥有汽车贸易的所有国家"进行，而不仅仅是与美国进行。

A deal with the US alone "would not conform with WTO" rules, she said.

她说，仅与美国达成的协议“不符合WTO规则”。

"We can either have negotiations about a wide range of tariffs, for 90 percent of goods," Merkel said in a reference to the stalled talks for a transAtlantic free-trade deal known as TTIP.

默克尔在提及一项被称为“TIP”的跨大西洋自由贸易协定的停滞谈判时说：“我们也可以就90%的货物征收广泛的关税进行谈判。“

"Or we can talk about one type of goods, but then we must accord the same treatment to all trading partners of the world. That's an option I could imagine," she added.

她说：“或者我们可以谈论一种商品，但我们必须给予世界所有贸易伙伴同样的待遇。”

Merkel's offer came after US ambassador in Berlin, Richard Grenell, hosted bosses of Germany's biggest car firms for talks on Wednesday when he called on the EU to bring tariffs to zero on car imports — in exchange for equal treatment by the US.

Noting that the EU will negotiate as a bloc, Merkel said European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker would be heading to Washington for talks in a bid to head off a trade war with the US.

默克尔表示，欧盟委员会首席执行长容克将前往华盛顿进行谈判，以结束与美国的贸易战争。

Trump on Sunday charged that Europe is "possibly as bad as China" on trade, as he reiterated that he is mulling import taxes of 20 percent on EU cars, after having already imposed punitive duties on steel and aluminum.

特朗普上周日指责欧洲，因为他重申，在已经对钢铁和铝征收惩罚性关税之后，他正在对欧盟汽车征收20%的进口税。

The EU has slapped tariffs on iconic US products including jeans and Harley-Davidson motorcycles, as a symbolic tit-for-tat response to the metal duties.

欧盟对牛仔裤和哈雷-戴维森(Harley-Davidson)摩托车等美国标志性产品征收了关税，这是对金属关税的一种象征性回应。

In a speech to German lawmakers on Thursday, Merkel said both sides were already effectively locked in a "trade conflict".

默克尔(Merkel)周四向德国议员发表讲话时表示，双方实际上已经陷入了“贸易冲突”。

"It is worthwhile to prevent this conflict from becoming a real war," she said, adding however that this "would require both sides" to take steps.

她说：“防止这场冲突变成真正的战争，是值得的。“

Willingness from Europe's biggest economy and major automobile producer Germany to cut car tariffs might please Trump, who had during the G7 summit suggested that the bloc of industrialized nations become a free-trade zone.

自欧洲最大的经济体和德国主要汽车生产国削减汽车关税的意愿也许会令特朗普高兴。 他在七国集团峰会上曾暗示工业化国家集团成为一个自由贸易区。

His proposal was however overshadowed by rows over a multitude of other issues, including his decision to quit the hard-fought Iran nuclear deal.

然而，他的建议被许多其他问题的争论所蒙蔽，包括他决定放弃激烈对抗的伊朗核协议。

For captains of the auto industry however, the prospect of zero tariffs on their product could not be more tantalizing.

然而，对于汽车业巨头来说，对其产品征收零关税的前景不会更加诱人。

BMW, which has a factory employing 10,000 in South Carolina, told AFP it "supports increasing trade through the reduction of tariff and non-tariff barriers, particularly those that impact automotive trade between the US and the European Union."

宝马公司是一家在南卡罗来纳州雇用1万人的工厂，它说，“通过减少关税和非关税壁垒，特别是影响美国和欧盟之间的汽车贸易的壁垒支持增加贸易。

The German Chamber of Commerce and Industry also voiced its backing for the zero-tariff offer. "It's better to discuss lowering taxes rather than escalating" the trade conflict with new tariffs, said Martin Wansleben, who heads the chamber.

德国工商会(German Commerce and Industry of Commercial)也表示支持零关税提议，“最好是讨论降低税额，而不是升级”与新关税的贸易冲突，沃斯勒本(Martin Wansleben)表示。

In a sign of the jitters surrounding the industry, talk of slashing taxes was sufficient to buoy the markets, with shares in auto giants all outperforming the DAX index. — AFP

这个行业的紧张迹象表明，削减税收的说法足以支撑市场，汽车巨头的股票都超过了DAX指数。