投资补贴:虚幻还是现实

Investment Subsidies:Illusion or Reality

补贴一般指政府对企业的财政资助。就这一界定而言,补贴似可理解为包括对投资的补贴。世界贸易组织《补贴与反补贴协定》提供了补贴定义以及针对货物的反补贴措施规则。《服务贸易总协定》中的商业存在实为投资,该协定提及补贴可能对服务贸易产生扭曲作用,但未提供相关规则。《全面与进步跨太平洋伙伴关系协定》中的非商业援助制度、近期其它主要自由贸易协定,均涉及有关投资的补贴问题。美欧日多次联合声明重点关注补贴问题。欧盟反补贴措施实践中通过征收反补贴税来处理与投资有关的补贴问题,欧盟《关于扭曲欧盟内部市场的外国补贴条例》(草案)直接提供了针对投资的补贴应采取的救济措施。我国规则与实践中也存在着对投资的补贴。投资补贴虽无其名,却有其实。投资补贴问题值得关注。

Subsidies generally refer to government financial assistance to enterprises.For the purpose of this definition,subsidies appear to be understood to include subsidies for investment.The existing World Trade Organization rules on subsidies focus on subsidies on goods and related countervailing measures.The commercial presence in the framework of the General Agreement on Trade in Services(GATS)is in fact investment,and GATS mentions the potential distorting effect of subsidies on trade in services but does not provide the relevant rules.The non-commercial assistance regime in the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement(CPTPP)and the main recent free trade agreements all address subsidies related to investment.The U.S.,Europe and Japan have focused on subsidies in several joint statements.The EU countervailing measures practice addresses investment-related subsidies through the imposition of countervailing duties.The Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on Foreign Subsidies Distorting the Internal Market directly provides remedies to be taken against subsidies for investment.Subsidies to investment also exist in our rules and practice.Although investment subsidies do not have a name,they have a reality.The issue of investment subsidies deserves attention.