7月6日，太阳照样升起，特朗普政府针对中国价值340亿美元商品加征25%关税的决定正式生效，而中国“采取数量型和质量型在内的综合措施对美进行反制”的决定接踵而至，中美贸易战正式打响。

The Sino-US trade war officially started on July 6 as the Trump administration’s decision to impose a 25 percent tariff on goods from China worth 34 billion dollars came into force, followed by the Chinese government’s announcement that it would “counter against the United States through comprehensive measures of quantity and quality.”

三个多月里三次密集磋商，还是没能制止这场经济战争的爆发，这说明，事情超出了常理的范围。

The failure to stop the outbreak after three intensive consultations in more than three months shows that things are beyond the scope of common sense. 

常理并不复杂。贸易战没有赢家，想要通过打击他国改善自身的贸易状况的企图注定失败，这一点双方都明白。向别人开火，也是向自己开火，还是向全世界开火，双方也明白。一国的保护主义、单边主义政策是落后、过时、低效的倒行逆施，对全球经贸环境构成了严重挑战，这些都明白。

Both sides are clear that there is no winner in the trade war, and any attempt to improve the trade situation by economically sanctioning other countries is doomed to fail. Further, any country opening fire on other countries is also firing at itself and at the world, and protectionism and unilateralism are outdated as well as inefficient, and pose a serious challenge to the global economic and trade environment.

开战前的最后一刻，所有的常理都已经摆明了，重要的道理都说了很多遍了，但特朗普政府就是不听，执意要开打。

那么是不是说特朗普政府就是没有理智的疯子、不知好歹的巨婴、完全不可理喻呢？

But Trump is determined to start a trade war. Does it mean that the president is a lunatic or a giant baby who is completely unreasonable?

虽然很多人都这么认为，但其实也不是。事到如今，很多人也都看明白了，以特朗普为首的一个小集团，另有他们的一套盘算，超出普通常理之外的一套谋划。而为了他们心目中的特殊目的，他们不惜摧毁全球经贸体系，甚至也不惜损害美国自身的利益。

So far, the majority of people have understood that a small group headed by Trump has made sophisticated calculations. In order to realize its goals, this small group has no hesitation in ignoring the global economic and trade system, even at the cost of the United States self-interest.

有评论认为，真正想和中国打贸易战的，其实只有三个人——“民粹总统”特朗普、“贸易沙皇”莱特希泽和“中国威胁论”炮制者纳瓦罗。很多奇怪的理念和谋划，都只在这个“铁三角”当中分享，并不代表其他人的意见，更不代表美国的整体利益。

Some commentators believe that there are only three people who really intend to trigger a trade war with China – “populist president” Trump, “trade tsar” Robert Lighthizer and Peter Navarro. Many strange ideas and plans are shared only among this "iron triangle." They do not represent the opinions of others, nor do they represent the overall interests of the US.

这种情况，对于世界大多数国家匪夷所思，但在美国这个国家，却司空见惯。回想当年的小布什政府，本质上也是一个由“战争总统”小布什和副总统切尼、国防部长拉姆斯菲尔德两个“家丁”组成的“铁三角”。与现在的情况类似，他们当时也是为了他们心目中某个特殊目的，不惜摧毁全球政治秩序，甚至也不惜损害美国自身的利益。

This situation seems ridiculous to most countries, but is commonplace in America. For example, the Bush administration was essentially an "iron triangle" composed of "war president" Bush, former vice president Richard Cheney and former secretary of defense Donald Rumsfeld. Similar to the current situation, the triangle headed by Bush also united for a special purpose. They did not hesitate to destroy the global political order, and even cost the US interest itself.

看清这一点，也就明白了7月6日这一天的意义：那个被小集团劫持的、周期性发作的美国又来了，其行为表现就是要一意孤行、倒行逆施，就是要与全世界为敌。

Seeing this clearly, we can understand what July 6 means for real: the United States, which is hijacked by a small group, has come back. It intends to act in its own way and make the whole world its enemy. 

整个世界被拖入衰退、拖入危机甚至拖入全面对抗，它满不在乎，在所不辞。

The world was dragged into recession and crisis and even dragged into a full-scale confrontation. But the US doesn’t care at all and spares no effort to do so.

那么，接下来的问题就是：世界怎么办？

Here is the question: What should the world do?

从当前的形势看，世界上各大经济体与美国都有冲突，但相互之间也矛盾重重，不太可能采取联合的反制行动。而中国，作为为全球经济增长做出了三分之一贡献的主要发动机，实际上独自承受着更大的压力，也不得不肩负更大的责任。

From the current situation, the major economies in the world have conflicts with the United States; meanwhile, among themselves, there is not always a harmony either. It is unlikely that they will take joint counteraction. China, which has contributed to one-third of the global economic growth, bears greater pressure on its own and has to shoulder greater responsibility.        

中国多年以来始终坚持扩大开放、合作共赢的原则。就在贸易战爆发前夕，又公布了新版的“负面清单”，在金融、基础设施、交通运输、文化、汽车、船舶、飞机、农业、能源、资源等多个领域推出了开放的举措，限制措施缩减了近四分之一。

China has always adhered to the principle of opening up to the outside world and win-win cooperation over the years. Before the outbreak of trade war, China released a new version of the "negative list" and launched a series of measures to deepen the opening-up policy in many fields, such as finance, infrastructure, transportation, culture, automobile, ship, aircraft, agriculture, energy and resources, etc. The restrictions were reduced by nearly 1/4.  

这个姿态表明，中国针对美国的贸易战反制措施，绝不意味着中国也将像美国一样，退回保护主义和单边主义路线上，恰恰相反，中国还会继续捍卫全球自由贸易和多边体制，推动全球贸易的健康平稳发展。

This move shows that China's counter measures against the US trade war will never go back to the protectionism and unilateralism as the US did. On the contrary, China will continue to defend the global free trade and multilateral system and promote the stable development of global trade.

但毫无疑问，也不可能指望中国会为美国的单边主义恶行造成的严重后果付出代价。美国既然不顾一切地发起了这场贸易战，由此导致的全部后果，也都要由美国来负责。

Do not count on China to pay for the severe consequences resulted from the unilateralism of the United States. That is without question. Since Uncle Sam launched this reckless trade war, he should be responsible for all the consequences.

至于世界上其他主要经济体，眼下也是两种选择：或者追随特朗普小集团，放弃责任和义务，向保护主义和单边主义后退；或者以中国为榜样，迎难而上，继续捍卫全球自由贸易和多边体制。

As for the other major economies in the world, there are two options at the moment: following Trump's small group, abandoning their responsibilities and obligations, returning to protectionism and unilateralism, or taking China as an example to continue to defend the free trade and multilateral system.

两种选择最终的结果各是什么，其实也不难计算。小集团代表了什么，负责任大国又代表了什么，道理也很明显。

7月6日，中美贸易战炮声已响，整个世界经济的前途命运，就掌握在世界各国的抉择之中。

It’s not difficult to calculate the results of the two options. And it’s easy to see what the small group and the responsible country represent.

The first shot was fired in the China-US trade war on July 6. The destiny of the world economy is determined by the choice of the countries around the globe.

（对外文章，首发于央视CGTN网站）