国际贸易协定中的“进口承诺”:历史与现状

Import Commitments in International Trade Agreements:History and Status Quo

2020年2月14日生效的《中华人民共和国政府和美利坚合众国政府经济贸易协定》(简称"中美第一阶段经贸协定")第6章设置的"进口承诺"条款备受国人关注。文章对国际贸易协定中此类条款的历史和现状进行深入考察,得出如下基本结论:首先,进口承诺是市场经济国家与缺乏有效关税制度的"非市场经济"(尤其是计划经济)国家对等贸易的最原始、最基本手段,其目的是谋求两类不同体制国家的贸易合作;其次,中美第一阶段经贸协定的进口承诺条款尽管缓和了贸易冲突,却体现了双边贸易关系的倒退,是美国在对"非市场主导政策和做法"形成新规则之前的过渡之举;第三,中国在履行进口承诺过程中可能面临购买执行、结果评估和外部影响三方面问题。

The Economic and Trade Agreement between the Government of the United States and the Government of the People's Republic of China,briefly called the Phase One Economic&Trade Agreement,entered into force on February 14,2020.The "import commitments"made by China in Chapter 6 " Expanding Trade"have become a subject of growing concern.This paper investigates the history and status quo of such commitments in international trade agreements and finds that:first,import commitments are the basic and primary means of reciprocal trade between market-economy and non-market-economy(particularly planned-economy)countries in order to promote trade cooperation between the countries of different economic systems;second,the import commitments in the Phase One Economic&Trade Agreement,which represent a step backwards of the Sino-US trade relations although they have eased trade tension,are a transitional move of the Unites States before the formation of new rules for "non market-oriented policies and practices";third,when implementing its commitments,China may face three problems including how to purchase at market prices based on commercial considerations,how to assess import value objectively and how to ease the negative effect on the bilateral trade with other trading partners.