WTO规则与自然资源永久主权原则之冲突与协调——从中国资源出口限制案谈起

中国与美国、欧盟、墨西哥之间的资源出口限制争端,再次引起学界对自然资源主权问题的热烈讨论。WTO没有否定自然资源国家主权原则,但确实对国家制定自然资源贸易政策施加了极大的限制。对资源出口限制争端,我们最好是将其当成个案来处理,不要掺入过多的民族情绪。中国保护资源的目的是正当的,但要注意措施与WTO义务的协调,不能授人以柄。出口配额、出口高关税、出口价格限制等明显违反WTO的措施应逐步取消或修改,代之以限制开采、提高资源税等合法措施。此外,对自然资源企业进行整合,减少恶性竞争,也是可以考虑的措施。

Conflicts between the WTO Rules and the Traditional Doctrine of Inherent Sovereign Right on Natural Resources

On July 5,2011,the panel of the WTO gave their report on the natural resource export restriction dispute between China on the one hand and the United States,the European Union and Mexico on the other.The panel did not accept China’s defense and recommended that China revise her law and regulations to make them in conformity with WTO rules. This paper proposes that we should not take this case with too much national emotion.The traditional doctrine of inherent sovereign right has been changed dramatically by the WTO and the traditional rule cannot be used as a defense to a member’s WTO obligations.In order to protect natural recourses and the environment, China must take her WTO obligations in mind.