08 拜登公布2万亿美元基建计划

拜登宣布将投入2万亿美元政府支出用于美国的基础设施建设，同时通过大幅提高企业税以筹集2万亿美元收入。

全文共890个词，By James Politi in Washington

Joe Biden unveiled his plan to plough $2tn in government spending into US infrastructure alongside$2tn in higher corporate taxes, as the first stage of a multitrillion-dollar effort to reshape the world’s largest economy.

乔·拜登（Joe Biden）宣布将投入2万亿美元政府支出用于美国的基础设施建设，同时通过提高企业税筹集2万亿美元收入，这是重塑这个全球最大经济体的数万亿美元努力的第一阶段。

The US president made the announcement in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on Wednesday, calling it the biggest public investment programme since the creation of the interstate highway system and the Space Race of the 1960s.

拜登周三在宾夕法尼亚州匹兹堡宣布了这一消息，称这是自上世纪60年代州际高速公路系统建设和太空竞赛以来最大的公共投资项目。

“It’s going to create the strongest most resilient, innovative economy in the world. It’s not a plan that tinkers around the edges,” Biden said, adding: “This is not to target those who have made it, not to seek retribution. This is about opening opportunities for everybody else.”

拜登表示：“这将创造出世界上最强大、最有韧性、最具创新性的经济。这不是一个修修补补的计划。这不是针对那些已经成功的人，不是为了惩罚他们。这是为了给所有其他人提供机会。”

Coming just weeks after Congress approved a $1.9tn fiscal stimulus plan to reboot the pandemic-ravaged US economy, Biden’s investment proposal sets the stage for weeks of delicate negotiations on Capitol Hill, where Democrats hold razor-thin majorities in both chambers of Congress.

就在几周前，美国国会刚刚批准了一项1.9万亿美元的财政刺激计划，以重振遭受大流行重创的美国经济。拜登这项新的投资提议将让国会展开长达数周的微妙谈判——民主党在参众两院均以极其微弱的优势占据多数。

If passed, it would represent a high-stakes bet by the White House that a lasting injection of government funds, funded by higher corporate taxes, will strengthen the economy as it emerges from the coronavirus crisis, rather than weaken it, as Republicans argue.

如果获得通过，这将是白宫的一项高风险押注，白宫赌的是，政府通过提高企业税筹集资金，注入到经济中，将在美国经济走出疫情危机之际提振经济，而不会像共和党人所认为的那样削弱经济。

Biden said it would also help America’s standing in the world: “[It] will promote our national security interest and put us in a position to win the global competition with China in the upcoming years. It’s big, yes. It’s bold, yes, and we can get it done.”

拜登表示这还有益于美国在世界上的地位：“（这）将促进我们的国家安全利益，并让我们在未来这些年赢得与中国的全球竞争。这是一项很大的计划，的确。这是一项大胆的计划，的确，而我们能做到。”

The plan sets aside up to $621bn in funding for traditional infrastructure upgrades, including roads, bridges, public transport networks, electric vehicles and vital hubs such as ports and airports.

该计划将拨出至多6210亿美元资金，用于升级传统基础设施，包括道路、桥梁、公共交通网络、电动汽车以及港口和机场等重要枢纽。

It will also try to direct the spending towards projects to help the US mitigate the climate crisis, which the Biden administration has vowed to tackle head-on, in a big shift from the scepticism of former president Donald Trump.

该计划还将试图把这些支出投向帮助美国缓解气候危机的项目。拜登政府发誓要正面应对气候危机，这与对气候变化持怀疑态度的前总统唐纳德·特朗普（Donald Trump）有很大不同。

These proposals include $100bn in measures to modernise the electricity grid, tax credits for clean energy generation and storage and to plug orphan oil and gas wells — as well as $213bn to make homes more energy-efficient and $100bn to do the same for public schools.

这些提案包括斥资1000亿美元，用以实现电网现代化、为清洁能源发电与储存提供税收抵免，以及封堵“孤儿”油气井；还包括斥资2130亿美元用于提升住宅能效，以及斥资1000亿美元提高公立学校能效。

Meanwhile, $180bn of funds will be directed towards investments in research and development in areas such as artificial intelligence and biotechnology, aimed at improving competitiveness with China. A further $300bn in government spending is to be devoted to manufacturing subsidies, including help for chipmakers.

与此同时，1800亿美元资金将投向人工智能和生物技术等领域的研发，旨在提升美国在与中国竞争时的优势。另有3000亿美元的政府支出将用于补贴制造业，包括为芯片制造商提供帮助。

While supporters of Biden’s plan have already argued that it will address decades of chronic under-investment in public goods that has hurt the economy, critics were concerned that the corporate tax increases could be harmful to US competitiveness.

尽管支持拜登计划的人士已表示，该计划将解决数十年来损害美国经济的问题——公共品投资长期不足，但批评人士担心，提高企业税可能损害美国的竞争力。

Biden wants to raise the corporate tax rate from 21 per cent to 28 per cent, and muster additional revenue through a 21 per cent global minimum tax, calculated on a country-by-country basis “so it hits profits in tax havens”, according to the White House. The president also wants to scrap an exemption from taxes for companies on the first 10 per cent of earnings produced internationally and end tax preferences for fossil fuel producers.

白宫表示，拜登希望将企业税率从21%提高至28%，并通过一项税率为21%的全球最低税（分国家计算，以“打击（流向）避税港的利润”）来获得额外收入。拜登还希望废除对企业头10%海外利润免税的政策，并结束对化石燃料生产商的税收优惠。

The president twice singled out Amazon for being among a slew of blue-chip US companies that “use various loopholes so they pay not a single solitary penny in federal income tax”.

拜登两次点名亚马逊（Amazon），称它是美国众多“利用各种漏洞，不缴纳一分钱联邦所得税”的蓝筹股公司中的一员。

He added: “I don’t want to punish them but that’s just wrong...I’m going to put an end to that.”

他补充称：“我不想惩罚它们，但（它们）这样做是不对的……我要终结这种做法。”

Even before Biden released his plan, the Business Roundtable, which represents the biggest blue-chip companies in Washington, attacked the tax increases in the plan.

甚至在拜登公布他的计划之前，代表最大型蓝筹股公司的华盛顿机构商业圆桌会议（Business Roundtable）就对该计划中的增税措施进行了抨击。

Neil Bradley, the US Chamber of Commerce’s chief policy officer, on Wednesday said that while it favoured a “big and bold” infrastructure package, the corporate levies were “dangerously misguided”and would “slow the economic recovery and make the US less competitive globally — the exact opposite of the goals of the infrastructure plan”.

美国商会（US Chamber of Commerce）首席政策官尼尔·布拉德利（Neil Bradley）周三表示，虽然美国商会支持“宏大且有魄力的”基建计划，但企业税政策“危险地跑偏了”，会“减慢经济复苏速度，削弱美国的全球竞争力——这恰恰与基建计划的目标背道而驰”。

Trade unions cheered the announcement. “Joe Biden understands we need to go big, and this announcement brings us one step closer to delivering the aggressive changes we need to rebuild our country,” tweeted the AFL-CIO, the largest US trade union federation.

工会对这个计划表示欢迎。美国最大的工会组织——美国劳工联合会和产业工会联合会（AFL-CIO）在Twitter上写道：“乔·拜登明白我们需要宏大计划，他宣布的计划让我们距重建国家所需的激烈改变又近了一步。”

Biden’s spending proposal is expected to last about eight years, whereas the corporate tax increases are expected to be phased in over 15 years, beyond the US government’s traditional 10-year budget window, implying the plan will add to America’s deficit during that time.

按照预期，拜登的支出方案将持续8年，而对企业的增税会在15年内分阶段执行，比美国政府传统的10年预算窗口更久，这意味着该计划将在相应时间内加重美国的赤字。

Despite the high price tag of Biden’s infrastructure package, the White House is expected in the coming weeks to complete its investment plan with an additional set of spending measures on “childcare, healthcare [and] education” that is likely to top $1tn, bringing the total amount to more than $3tn.

尽管拜登的基建计划成本很高，但预计白宫未来几周还将在投资计划中纳入一系列额外支出举措，包括“育儿、医保（和）教育”方面的举措，其支出数额很可能超过1万亿美元，使总支出超过3万亿美元。

The second package is expected to be paired with tax increases on wealthy individuals, including on income, capital gains and estates.

预计第二项计划会配合对富人的增税，包括对他们的收入、资本利得和房产增税。

As he prepares to begin the negotiations with Congress on both packages, Biden is facing competing pressures within his party. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the New York Democratic lawmaker, has said the $2tn infrastructure plan is “not nearly enough” and has argued for a higher figure.

随着拜登准备就两项计划与国会谈判，他还面临民主党内部两种相互竞争的压力。来自纽约的民主党议员亚历山德里娅·奥卡西奥-科尔特斯（Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez）表示，2万亿美元的基建计划“完全不够”，并主张将数额提高。

But other Democrats are worried that the spending and tax rises could be excessive, with some even calling for a repeal of a cap on deductions for state and local tax payments, which would amount to a tax cut.

但其他民主党议员担心，支出金额和增税幅度可能太大了，一些议员甚至呼吁撤销州和地方税额抵扣上限，这将相当于一种减税。