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As the world’s richest man Elon Musk likes to point out, he is a former holder of an H-1B skilled foreign worker visa for the US. So are Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and Sundar Pichai, the Alphabet chief executive. Together these individuals run or have founded trillion-dollar businesses that have made a major contribution to US jobs and prosperity; a great American strength has long been its openness to foreign-born talent. All of which makes the Trump administration’s plan to impose a $100,000 fee for such a visa especially ill-conceived.
正如全球首富埃隆•马斯克(Elon Musk)常强调的那样，他曾持有赴美就业的H-1B技术类外籍员工签证。微软(Microsoft)首席执行官萨蒂亚•纳德拉(Satya Nadella)以及谷歌首席执行官桑达尔•皮查伊(Sundar Pichai)亦然。以上人士所领导或创办的公司市值以万亿美元计，为美国就业与繁荣作出了重大贡献；美国的一大优势历来在于对海外人才的包容与开放。正因如此，特朗普政府计划对这类签证征收10万美元申请费，尤显欠妥。
The move has exposed anew the divide between the techno-libertarians who helped finance Trump’s return to power and his Maga base. Curbing not just undocumented migrants but skilled worker visas is popular among his grassroots supporters, who see H-1Bs as favouring foreign workers and depressing US wages in key sectors. But many tech executives would like the H-1B system — currently capped at 85,000 a year for businesses, awarded via lottery — to be expanded. That the president has sided with his base shows the limits to his partnership with US billionaires — and that his populist instinct for splashy gestures, whatever the cost, can win out.
此举再次暴露出帮助特朗普重返总统之位提供资金的科技自由意志派与其“让美国再次伟大”(Maga)基本盘之间的分歧。限制的不仅是无证移民，还包括技术工人签证的举措，在其草根支持者中颇受欢迎，这些人认为H-1B偏袒外国劳工，压低了美国关键行业的工资。但许多科技高管希望扩大H-1B体系——目前对企业年度配额为85000个，并通过抽签发放。特朗普选择站在其基本盘一边，表明他与美国亿万富翁的合作存在边界——也说明其民粹式、追求夺目效果的直觉往往会占上风，不惜代价。
Silicon Valley uses H-1B visas heavily to hire foreign scientists, engineers and coders to make up for US skills shortages. Accountancy, finance and healthcare are also big users. Critics say hiring foreign workers more cheaply helps big business to keep costs down. But research has found that from 1990 to 2010, rising numbers of H-1B holders accounted for 30-50 per cent of all US productivity growth.
硅谷大量依赖H-1B签证雇用外国科学家、工程师和程序员，以弥补美国技能短缺。会计、金融和医疗保健行业也是主要使用者。批评者认为，以更低的成本雇用外国劳工有助于大企业压低开支。但研究发现，1990年至2010年间，H-1B持有人数的增加为美国生产率增长贡献了30%至50%。
The White House says the fee increase will ensure companies only hire the highest-skilled workers, who cannot be replaced by US counterparts. But US companies will not be able to do without skilled foreigners entirely, so will face significantly higher outlays than the few thousand dollars that H-1Bs typically cost today. Big tech companies might absorb these, but they could be prohibitive for start-ups.
白宫称，提高费用将确保公司只雇用技能最高、无法被美国人替代的劳动者。不过，美国公司不可能完全不依赖技术熟练的外国人，因此其支出将显著高于当前H-1B通常仅需的几千美元。大型科技公司或许能消化这笔成本，但对初创企业而言可能会过于沉重。
The result is likely to be reduced foreign hiring which could, for a time, exacerbate US talent shortages. It could also lead to more offshoring of specialist work to India or Canada. Along with Trump’s assault on higher education, making it harder to move from a US degree to a work visa could be another deterrent to future Musks and Pichais.
其结果很可能是减少雇用外国人，短期内或将加剧美国的人才短缺。这也可能促使更多专业性工作被离岸外包到印度或加拿大。再加上特朗普对高等教育的打压，从美国学位转向工作签证变得更难，或将成为阻碍未来的马斯克和皮查伊们的重要因素。
The US clearly needs to train more people with the right skills; US business should play its part by partnering with schools and colleges to sponsor the necessary programmes. Such efforts sometimes need a political nudge. But heavy-handed initiatives such as this threaten to be counter-productive.
美国显然需要培养更多具备合适技能的人才；美国企业也应尽一份力，通过与中学和高校合作，资助必要的项目。这类努力有时需要政治层面的推动，但像这样过于强硬的举措可能适得其反。
The move also looks like another baffling swipe at India, still reeling from punitive US tariffs and whose nationals hold more than 70 per cent of H-1B visas. Investors are fretting about the impact on IT services groups such as Tata Consultancy Services and Infosys. Over time, however, higher costs for their US units could be offset by increased outsourcing to their India-based businesses. Some Indians have also suggested Trump’s move could help the country retain more of its homegrown talent and boost innovation.
此举也像是对印度的又一次令人费解的抨击。印度仍在承受美国惩罚性关税的冲击，其国民持有超过70%的H-1B签证。投资者正担心对塔塔咨询服务公司(Tata Consultancy Services)和印孚瑟斯(Infosys)等IT服务企业的影响。长期来看，其美国业务成本上升或可通过更多外包给其在印度的业务来抵消。也有一些印度人称，特朗普的举措或有助于该国留住更多本土人才并促进创新。
There are opportunities here for other countries, too: Britain’s Labour government is exploring abolishing some visa fees for top global talent. That stands in stark contrast with Nigel Farage’s increasingly popular Reform UK party, which is proposing scrapping the main route for migrants to settle permanently in Britain. Yet such radical responses to the anti-migration backlash, which often fails to distinguish between the legal and illegal variety, risk harming growth — and exacerbating the squeeze on living standards and services that is a root cause of the discontent.