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全球自由贸易大撤退

布宜诺斯艾利斯 上世纪80年代，为减少美国贸易逆差和保护其公司避免与日本竞争，美国总统罗纳德·里根政府强制日本接受对美出口尤其是汽车出口的“自愿”限制。直到1994年，尽管贸易逆差并未减少，但美国汽车制造商变得更有竞争力，因此该限制得到了解除。第二年，世界贸易组织成立，禁止了这种不公平的“自愿”限制。

自那时起，日本这个贸易额占了GDP比重35%的国家一直坚定地捍卫着多边贸易规则。但是面对美国总统唐纳德·特朗普加大对以规则为基础的贸易体系的攻击力度时，日本可能要做出改变。

最近日本同意和美国就特惠贸易协定进行协商，这可能会影响多边贸易体系的一大支柱——最惠国待遇义务。该义务声明，贸易协议中给予一国的任何特许权或特权必须要同样给所有世贸组织成员国。在这方面，日本再一次在美国沉重的压力下“自愿地”行动。

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