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In the daunting battle against corporate online espionage worldwide, one major solar company wants to deploy a powerful and novel weapon: higher tariffs.
在抗击全球商业网络间谍活动的艰巨斗争中，一家大型太阳能企业希望能动用一件强大的新型武器：更高的进口关税。
SolarWorld Americas, the largest manufacturer of solar panels in the United States, has asked the Commerce Department to investigate claims that Chinese military personnel broke into the company’s computers and stole documents important to its business and its long-running trade dispute with China.
这家太阳能世界工业（美国）公司(SolarWorld Americas)是美国最大的太阳能组件生产企业。公司已提请商务部调查自己提起的指控，即中国军方人员攻入了它的计算机系统，盗取了与公司业务及其同中国之间的长期贸易纠纷有关的关键资料。
The company’s request followed the Justice Department’s decision to prosecute five members of the People’s Liberation Army, accusing them in May of stealing online files from a group of American companies, most of which had engaged in trade disputes with China.
此前，美国司法部于今年5月决定起诉中国人民解放军的五名成员，指控他们盗取一系列美国企业的网络文件，其中多数公司存在与中国的贸易纠纷。
SolarWorld says the new prosecution underscores the sophisticated ways that Chinese companies are retaliating against trade obstacles, especially the use of cyberwarfare.
太阳能世界表示，这桩新的诉讼突显了中国企业报复贸易屏障时手法之老道，尤其是还发动了网络战。
As a deterrent, the company is proposing that the administration should use tariffs to crack down on such retribution.
为了加以震慑，公司提请奥巴马政府动用关税手段来打压这种报复行径。
“We think it is critically important that the Commerce Department set a precedent here and take a strong stand that it will not tolerate cyberhacking of U.S. companies that file trade cases,” said Timothy C. Brightbill, a lawyer representing SolarWorld.
“我们认为至关重要的是，商务部要在本案中创下先例，立场坚定地表明，不会容忍针对提起贸易案的美国企业实施网络间谍活动，”太阳能世界的代理律师蒂莫西·C·布莱特比尔(Timothy C. Brightbill)说。
While acknowledging that the Justice Department is unlikely to compel the suspects to appear in a United States courtroom, he said the federal government could impose additional steep tariffs on imports of Chinese solar panels. “This is a way that the U.S. could actually make it hurt,” Mr. Brightbill said.
尽管承认司法部不大可能迫使嫌疑人出现在美国的法庭上，他表示联邦政府能够做到对进口的中国太阳能组件加征高额关税。“通过这种方式，美国能让对方真正付出代价，”布莱特比尔说。
A broader investigation by the Commerce Department into the costs of solar panels divided the industry from its start. Domestic solar farm developers and installers of solar systems, whose businesses had benefited from an abundance of cheap imported equipment, worried that the passed-on costs of tariffs would slow solar adoption among consumers.
从一开始，美国商务部针对太阳能组件成本启动的大型调查就让这一行业陷入分裂。美国的太阳能电厂开发商和太阳能系统安装企业得益于廉价进口设备的充足供应。二者担心，关税带来的成本转嫁会放慢消费者使用太阳能的步伐。
And American companies exporting polysilicon, the main raw material for solar products, to China feared that tariffs would make it harder for them to do business there. Indeed, China imposed steep duties on American polysilicon at the beginning of this year and recently tightened import policies on the material.
此外，对中国出口多晶硅的美国公司也担心，加征关税会让它们在中国的生意更难做。而太阳能产品主要的原材料正是多晶硅。实际上，中国已在今年初对美国产多晶硅加征了高额关税，并于近期收紧了该原材料的进口政策。
Still, many executives and officials have been frustrated in trying to hold Chinese companies accountable for what they see as unfair or unscrupulous business practices. A federal judge recently found a state-controlled Chinese drywall manufacturer, Taishan Gypsum Company, in criminal and civil contempt after it abruptly abandoned court proceedings five years into a case that found it liable for contaminated drywall used in the homes of seven Virginia families.
尽管如此，美国政商两界的许多高级官员一直在为如何让中国企业承担责任而颇为头疼。在他们看来，中国企业采用的是不公平或不道德的商业手法。一名联邦法官近期判决，中国的国有干板墙生产商泰山石膏股份有限公司犯有刑事与民事类的藐视法庭罪，理由是公司突然停止参与一桩进行了五年的诉讼案的法律程序。案件认定，这家企业要为弗吉尼亚州七户人家使用的有毒干板墙负责。
Senator Bill Nelson, Democrat of Florida, said he believed the implications of the case went far beyond drywall.
来自佛罗里达州的民主党联邦参议员比尔·尼尔森(Bill Nelson)表示，他认为本案的意义远远超出了干板墙的范畴。
“It poses a defining moment for the Chinese government and its companies, which raises grave questions as to the risk of doing business with the Chinese,” Senator Nelson said in July on the Senate floor. “Will the Chinese government and its companies honor their moral and legal obligations under this or any other commercial contract?”
“这是考验中国政府和中国企业本质的时刻，就与中国做生意的风险提出了重大疑问，”尼尔森今年7月在参议院发言称。“不管是在这项商务合同，或是其他合同中，中国政府和公司会不会信守道德和法律义务？”
In the case of online crime, corporations across many industries are frequently reluctant to cooperate with prosecutions, said Shawn Henry, president of CrowdStrike Services, a security technology and services company, and a former executive assistant director of the F.B.I. They worry that publicizing security breaches risks their reputation and erodes competitive advantages, as well as opening the door to lawsuits.
安全技术与服务公司CrowdStrike的总裁肖恩·亨利(Shawn Henry)称，在网络犯罪案件中，有众多行业的公司常常不愿与检方合作。亨利曾在联邦调查局(FBI)担任常务助理局长。企业担心，公开安全缺口可能有损自身名誉、削弱竞争优势，并会打开诉讼的大门。
The threat of trade sanctions, Mr. Henry said, could offer the government a rare way to thwart hacking schemes before they happen.
亨利认为，威胁动用贸易制裁可以让美国政府拥有一样提前阻止网络攻击活动的罕见武器。
“The value to the Chinese government and the companies that are benefiting from these thefts of intellectual property is in the billions of dollars, and the penalties or the risk is almost zero,” he said. “There aren’t any mechanisms to hold anyone accountable.”
“中国政府和企业从这些知识产权盗窃活动中赚取的钱财数以亿计，而受到的惩罚和其中的风险几乎为零，”他说。“目前完全不存在能将任何人绳之以法的机制。”
It is not clear how or if the Commerce Department will proceed; officials there declined to comment beyond saying that they were reviewing the request. Also uncertain is whether the White House, which is struggling to balance promoting the spread of green energy and protecting domestic manufacturing, would support the use of tariffs in such cases. A Justice Department spokesman, Marc Raimondi, said that the administration “embraces an all-tools approach to these types of crimes.”
尚不明朗的是，商务部是否将推进此事，以及如何推进。部门官员仅表示正在审核这一申请，除此之外不予置评。同样不清楚的是，苦于在促进绿色能源推广与保护国内制造业之间取得平衡的白宫，是否会支持在此类案件中动用关税手段。司法部发言人马克·雷蒙迪(Marc Raimondi)称，政府“欢迎在应对这类犯罪时多管齐下”。
“It’s not just a criminal justice solution,” Mr. Raimondi said. “There are a number of different tools that can be used to target this type of criminal activity.”
“不光可以动用刑事司法解决手段，”雷蒙迪说。“还有多种不同的工具可以用于打击此类犯罪活动。”
Trade officials would first have to open an inquiry into how SolarWorld had been harmed and how the Chinese-owned solar companies — unnamed in the Justice Department indictment — had benefited, in order to impose additional duties on imports from those companies. If the Chinese government or companies decline to respond to information requests, the department can use other facts, including those presented by the other side in making a determination, trade lawyers said.
贸易官员必须首先启动调查，针对的是太阳能世界受侵害的情况，以及中国太阳能企业——司法部的诉状中未公布具体名称——从中受益的情况，然后才能对来自这些企业的进口商品加征关税。贸易律师表示，倘若中国政府或公司拒绝提供相关信息，商务部可以在作出裁决时采信其他事实，比如提出申请的一方呈交的证据。
Even if the Commerce Department does not open an investigation, trade experts say, the SolarWorld request and the Justice Department indictment are bringing needed attention to a government that is more aggressive than others have been in trying to promote its industries.
贸易专家表示，就算商务部决定不启动调查，太阳能世界提出的要求和司法部的正式起诉，也将必要的关注聚焦到了中国政府身上。在努力提升本国产业上，中国政府的咄咄逼人姿态比起别国来可谓尤为突出。
“The Chinese have taken their efforts on behalf of their economy — and a lot of them are state-owned enterprises, a lot of them are state-supported — to a level that I think most people within the trade area haven’t seen,” said Paul C. Rosenthal, a lawyer at Kelley Drye in Washington. “It needs to be addressed, and there need to be better remedies available to address it.”
“中国以经济为名进行了种种尝试，很多受益者是国有或受到国家支持的企业。这种活动的程度之深，我想是贸易领域的多数人前所未见的，”在华盛顿执业的凯利律师事务所(Kelley Drye)律师保罗·C·罗森塔尔(Paul C. Rosenthal)说。“这个问题需要得到正视，需要有更好的补救措施来加以应对。”
