Car taxes in China

Car taxes in China 中国车税
Taking another road
China finds a way to cut car imports without offending the WTO
中国正在寻求一种方法在不违背世贸组织的前提全下去削减汽车进口。

LESS than a month after losing its first legal dispute with the World 在输了和世贸组织的的第一场法律纠纷的一个月内，
Trade Organisation (WTO), China has introduced a new tax that will
中国出台了一项新的税收政策，以达到多它原本想要的结果，只是通过另外一种方式。

achieve much of what it originally wanted, only by another route. Moreover, it is a “green” tax. Who could object to that?
另外，这是一项主张保护环境的税收，谁能够反对它呢？
For the past few years China has imposed a special 25% tariff on
在过去的几年，中国对进口汽车产品强制征收专门的25%的关税，而不是平常的10%
imported car parts, rather than the usual 10%, if the parts made up 如果这部分占据了超过车辆价值的一半(进口的全新汽车也要服从25%的关税) more than half of the value of a vehicle. (Imported new cars are also subject to a 25% tariff.) This was to encourage foreign carmakers to 这项政策就鼓励外国汽车制造商去采用更多的当地的供应商并且减少进口。

use more local suppliers and reduce imports. But America, the
但是美国,欧盟以及加拿大坚决主张这项关税违反了世贸规则。

European Union and Canada argued that the tariff was against WTO rules. In July the WTO, based in Geneva, agreed.
7月，世贸组织在日内瓦同意了他们的主张。

China may yet appeal. In the meantime, the government has found
中国还可能会上诉。

同时，政府已经找到了另外一种方式去减少大批的昂贵的汽车进口。

another way to reduce the flow of expensive automotive imports. On Augu st 13th the government announced a new “green” tax that will 在8月13号，政府宣布了一项项新的环保税收，它将在9月1号生效。

come into effect on September 1st. The new tax is meant to reduce 这项新的税收就是为了减少化石燃料的消耗和抵制污染。

fuel consumption and fight pollution. Rather than further raising the tax on fuel, which increased by almost 20% in June, the government 6月，政府与其进一步提高几乎20%的燃料税，不如向耗油车征税。

巧合的是，大部分的这种车都是外国制造的。

is taxing gas-guzzling cars. By an amazing coincidence, most such cars are foreign-made.
Cars with engine capacities larger than 4.1 litres will now incur a 40%
汽车发动机排量大于4.1升现在将要遭受40%的营业税——两倍于之前的水平。

sales tax—twice the previous level. Cars with engines between 3 and 4.1 litres will be taxed at 25%, up from 15%. The tax on the smallest
汽车发动机排量在3和4.1升之间将会收税从15%涨到25%，汽车发动机排量小于一升的，税收将从3%降到1%。

cars, with engines smaller than 1 litre, will fall from 3% to 1%. The 8% and 10% taxes on other cars will not change.
对于其他车辆的8%和10%的税将不会改变。

The government says the new tax will encourage a shift to more fuel-efficient cars. It will also help Chinese carmakers, as they tend to
政府声称这项新的税收政策想会鼓励向燃料消耗低的汽车方向转变，因为他们想让汽车发动机排量低于2.5升。

生产大部分的大排量的外国汽车制造商将会受损失。

make cars with engines smaller than 2.5 litres. Foreign carmakers, which make most of the cars with larger engines, will suffer. Imported large-engine cars achieved record sales-growth in the first half of 2008, increasing by 26%, to 80,700 units. Imports of cars with 3-litre engines grew by more than 50%, and imports of sport-utility vehicles were up 79%.
进口大型发动机汽车达到创纪录的销售增长在2008 年的上半年，增长达到了了26%，80,700 辆。

3升排量的进口汽车增长也超过了50%，并且进口越野车也上涨了79%。

But there were signs of a slowdown even before the new tax.
甚至在这个新的税收政策之前就有一些增长放缓的迹象。

Although the Chinese car market bucked the global trend in the first half, higher fuel costs and tumbling stockmarkets are now putting buyers off.
尽管中国汽车市场在今年上半年全球逆势，但燃料成本上涨和股市震荡现在促使买家推迟购车。

Overall sales are still expected to rise this year by 8-10%, but this is half the level predicted at the start of the year, and far less than struggling foreign carmakers were hoping for.
全球销量今年仍然有望上涨8%-10%，但这会是今年开始预测的水平的一半并且远低于外国汽车制造商希望的。

China’s new tax is canny. It cuts fuel use, reduces imports, benefits local carmakers and may help to improve air quality. It also prevents any more pesky calls from Geneva.
中国的新的税收政策是精明的。

它削减了燃料的消耗，减少了进口，有益于本地汽车制造商并且有助于提升空气质量。

它还能防止从日内瓦发出任何更多麻烦的调用。