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Dramatic images of workers shackled at the ankles, wrists and waist during a raid by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement last week will have a chilling effect on foreign companies with operations, or plans to invest, in America. The detention of 475 workers, mostly South Korean nationals, at a battery plant being built by Hyundai and LG in Georgia, which involved helicopters, armoured vehicles and heavily armed agents, was clearly choreographed to send a message to Donald Trump’s base, and to shock international businesses into respecting US visa rules. Instead, the optics could backfire on the president’s plans to reinvigorate America’s manufacturing sector.
上周美国移民和海关执法局(US Immigration and Customs Enforcement)的一次突击行动中，工人被脚镣、手铐和腰链铐住的冲击性画面，势必对在美运营或计划赴美投资的外国公司产生寒蝉效应。在佐治亚一座正在由现代(Hyundai)和LG公司建设的电池工厂中，475名工人被拘留，其中大多为韩国公民；行动动用直升机、装甲车辆及全副武装的特工，显然经过精心编排，意在向唐纳德•特朗普(Donald Trump)的基本盘传递信号，并震慑国际企业遵守美国签证规定。然而这种视觉冲击可能适得其反，反而阻碍总统振兴美国制造业的计划。
The alleged infringements at the Hyundai and LG site are yet to be clarified. Immigration lawyers say many of the arrests were of individuals who entered the US on B-1 visas, which allow entry to the US for business purposes but do not allow the holder to work for payment, as well as the Esta visa waiver system that facilitates short-term business visits for specific activities. Seoul-based executives and industrial groups told the Financial Times that given difficulties in gaining short-term worker visas, it was an “open secret” that South Korean companies and their subcontractors had routinely used other forms of visas for workers sent to build advanced manufacturing sites in the US.
现代与LG工厂涉嫌的违规行为尚未澄清。移民事务律师指出，被捕人员多持B-1签证入境——该签证允许商务目的入境但禁止有偿工作——以及通过ESTA免签系统入境，后者仅适用于特定活动的短期商务访问。驻首尔的企业高管和行业团体向英国《金融时报》透露，鉴于短期工作签证申请困难，韩国企业及其分包商长期利用其他签证形式派遣工人赴美建设先进制造基地已是“公开的秘密”。
It is only right that foreign companies abide by US visa rules, and that America enforces them. But even if ICE was targeting genuine illegal work in Georgia last week, the manner in which it did so will do more harm than good to Trump’s hopes of sparking a manufacturing boom.
外国企业遵守美国签证规定、美国政府严格执行本属应有之义。但即便上周美国移民局在佐治亚州打击的是真实的非法劳工行为，其采取的方式也将弊大于利，不利于特朗普激发制造业繁荣的期望。
The number of employed foreign workers in the US has already dropped by around 1.4mn since March, amid Trump’s broader mass deportation plans. After the arrests last week, multinational companies with foreign employees have also paused some travel to the country and sought legal advice, fearing they could be targeted by the ICE next. With large raids across the country making little distinction between those crossing the border entirely undocumented or on incorrect visas, foreign workers will be increasingly deterred from coming to America altogether. Investors will also think twice.
在特朗普推行大规模遣返计划的背景下，美国雇佣的外籍劳工数量自3月以来已减少约140万人。上周逮捕行动后，雇佣外籍员工的跨国公司已暂停部分赴美差旅并寻求法律咨询，，担心自己会成为美国移民局的下一个目标。由于全国范围的大规模突击行动几乎不区分完全无证入境者与签证不当者，外籍劳工将愈发不愿来美工作。投资者也会再三权衡。
The US manufacturing and construction sectors are desperately short of workers. Few US workers are willing to do manual tasks on sites, and many lack the skills and expertise needed in today’s advanced sectors, such as semiconductor and battery making. This is why many global manufacturers — which have been pressured by Trump to expand in America — often prefer to use staff from their home country.
美国制造业和建筑业正面临严重劳动力短缺。美国本土工人鲜少愿意从事工地体力劳动，且多数缺乏半导体、电池制造等现代尖端产业所需的专业技能。这就是为什么许多在特朗普施压下被迫在美国扩张的全球制造商，往往更倾向于使用本国员工。
The administration could help train domestic workers, but that will take time, and it will also require some foreigners to do the training. Nor will this be sufficient in itself, given the scale of Trump’s manufacturing ambitions. A better approach would be to work with companies to help ensure staff stay within the law. That means ironing out ambiguities in the visa rules, speeding up visa approvals and renewals and developing more legal ways for necessary foreign workers to enter and stay in the country.
美国政府虽可协助培训本土劳动力，但此举耗时漫长，且仍需依赖部分外国专家进行培训。鉴于特朗普制造业雄心的规模，仅靠培训远远不够。更有效的方案是与企业合作，确保员工合法就业。这意味着要消除签证规则中的模糊条款，加快签证审批与续签流程，并为必要的外籍劳工开辟更多合法入境和居留途径。
Economic activity in the US manufacturing sector contracted in August for the sixth consecutive month, according to the Institute for Supply Management. Much of the hit comes from more expensive inputs, driven by the president’s tariffs. An increasingly strained workforce will add insult to injury. The US president wants factories to sprout up around the country. He wants to use tariff threats to goad international companies into building them, and he wants to clamp down on foreign workers and generate more jobs for Americans. He cannot have all of these at the same time.
据美国供应管理学会(Institute for Supply Management)称，8月份美国制造业经济活动连续第6个月收缩。造成冲击的很大一部分来自更昂贵的投入成本，而这由美国总统的关税所推动。日益紧张的劳动力状况将雪上加霜。美国总统希望工厂在全国各地涌现；他想借关税威胁逼迫国际公司来美国建厂，并收紧对外国劳工的管控，从而为美国人创造更多岗位。但这些目标不可能同时实现。