The US has given the go-ahead for the country’s largest steel producer to sue Chinese rivals, in the first known case in which trade sanctions could be used in retaliation for alleged China government-backed hacking of commercial secrets.

美国官方已批准该国最大钢铁生产商起诉中国竞争对手，这是贸易制裁可能被用来报复据称存在的中国政府支持的黑客窃取商业机密行为的第一起已知案件。

The move comes ahead of a meeting of senior US and Chinese officials in Beijing next week. It highlights the increasingly aggressive tactics the US steel industry is using to fight back against the flood of cheap Chinese steel that has hit global markets in recent years, as well as the growing international concerns about industrial overcapacity in China.

美方做出上述举动之际，美国和中国高级官员下周将在北京开会。它突显了美国钢铁行业正使用越来越咄咄逼人的战术反击近年涌入全球市场的廉价中国钢材，也突显国际社会越来越担忧中国的工业产能过剩问题。

Depending on the outcome the development could result in the next president authorising a blanket ban on imports of Chinese steel in retaliation for the alleged hacking.

取决于裁决结果，本案可能导致下一任总统授权在报复据称的黑客行为的名义下，全面禁止进口中国钢材。

US Steel in late April filed the case under the US’s “Section 337” rule, which allows trade sanctions for intellectual property theft.

美国钢铁公司(US Steel) 4月下旬根据美国“337条款”规则提起本案，该项规则允许对知识产权盗窃行为实行贸易制裁。

It alleged that some four dozen Chinese companies and their US subsidiaries had both acted as a cartel and benefited from the cyber theft of its production secrets.

该公司称，四十多家中国公司及其在美国的子公司一方面像一个卡特尔那样行事，另一方面获益于对美国钢铁生产机密的网络窃取。

In a decision last week the US International Trade Commission gave the go-ahead for the case to proceed, setting the stage for a legal battle that experts say will probably take more than a year for an administrative judge to decide.

美国国际贸易委员会(ITC)上周决定受理此案，从而为一场法律战搭起舞台；专家们表示，本案可能需要一年多时间才能由一名行政法官作出裁决。

This timeframe could lead to a decision related to arguably the US’s most important commercial relationship early in the next president’s first term. Under the law US presidents are given 60 days to block ITC decisions on Section 337 cases, although according to the ITC “such disapprovals are rare”.

这个时间框架意味着，ITC可能要在下任总统第一任期之初做出一项牵涉到美国最重要经贸关系的裁决。美国总统依法有60天时间否美决ITC对337条款个案作出的裁决，尽管据ITC介绍，“这样的否决很少见”。

Should he win November’s election, a decision in favour of US Steel could give Donald Trump, the Republican presumptive nominee, a way to deliver quickly on his campaign promises to crack down on China and its trade abuses. “If China wants to trade with America, they must agree to stop stealing and to play by the rules,” his campaign website declares.

如果共和党推定总统候选人唐纳德•特朗普(Donald Trump)赢得11月的大选，有利于美国钢铁公司的裁决可能让他快速兑现反击中国及其不当贸易行为的竞选承诺。“如果中国希望与美国开展贸易，他们就必须同意停止偷窃，并且遵守游戏规则，”他的竞选网站上宣告。

Such a decision by the ITC also could put Hillary Clinton, the Democratic frontrunner, in a difficult position should she win the presidency, leading to an early confrontation with Beijing over a politically sensitive industry.

如果民主党领跑者希拉里•克林顿(Hillary Clinton)赢得总统选举，ITC作出这样的裁决可能把她置于一个棘手境地，使她在上任之初就围绕一个政治敏感的行业与北京方面发生对抗。

US Steel claims it has widespread support from “local, state and federal officials, trade associations, customers and suppliers, employees, and our union brothers and sisters” for its case.

美国钢铁公司称，它在本案上得到“地方、州和联邦官员；行业协会；客户和供应商；雇员以及我们的工会兄弟姐妹”的广泛支持。

“We strongly believe that Chinese steel producers have engaged in illegal unfair methods of competition, which have created a force with which no market economy can compete,” Mario Longhi, the company’s president said in a statement welcoming the ITC decision.

“我们坚信，中国钢铁生产商以非法且不公平的手段进行竞争，形成了市场经济不可能与其竞争的一股势力，” 该公司总裁马里奥•隆吉(Mario Longhi)在欢迎ITC受理案件决定的一份声明中表示。

“We remain confident that the evidence will prove the Chinese steel producers engaged in collusion, theft and fraud and we will aggressively seek to stop those responsible for these illegal trade actions.”

“我们仍然相信，证据将证明中国钢铁生产商从事了合谋、盗窃和欺诈，我们将积极寻求阻止要对此类非法贸易行为负责的那些人。”

Trade lawyers say the case is a novel response to China’s alleged hacking. The alleged cyber attack on US Steel was among those included in a 2014 criminal case brought by the US justice department against five Chinese military officers.

贸易律师们表示，本案是针对中国据称从事的黑客行为的一种新颖回应。美国司法部(DoJ) 2014年对五名中国军官提出刑事指控时，曾提到他们涉嫌对美国钢铁发起网络攻击。