2026-02-22T10:31:52-0500 / CBS新闻
以下是2026年2月22日在《面对国家》节目中播出的对欧洲央行行长克里斯蒂娜·拉加德的采访实录。
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玛格丽特·布伦南:欢迎回到《面对国家》。我们现在请到的嘉宾是欧洲央行行长克里斯蒂娜·拉加德。欧洲央行负责为欧盟多个国家设定利率,而欧盟是美国最大的贸易伙伴。非常高兴您能来到这里。
克里斯蒂娜·拉加德:很高兴来到这里,玛格丽特。
玛格丽特·布伦南:尤其是在当前全球贸易走向不明朗的时刻。我注意到德国总理——德国是欧洲最大经济体——他表示,关税损害所有人,而欧美经济面临的最大威胁是关税政策的不确定性。您是否从格雷尔大使那里得到了关于下一步行动的明确信息?
克里斯蒂娜·拉加德:我不太确定。我想说,至关重要的是,所有参与贸易的各方——无论是美国以外的国家还是美国本土——都需要明确未来的贸易关系走向。这有点像开车前必须了解交通规则,贸易和投资也是如此。我们需要明确规则,避免反复调整关税政策。因为做生意的目的是合作共赢,而不是陷入法律纠纷。我希望这些问题能得到澄清,并且经过充分考虑,确保政策符合宪法和法律规定。
玛格丽特·布伦南:您刚才的发言与戈萨奇大法官的观点不谋而合——他认为,这就是为何要将相关事项写入法律,以便为未来规划提供明确依据。但我听到格雷尔大使并未明确表示会将这些内容立法,而是提及将利用现有法规。不过他似乎确信现有贸易协定将继续有效。欧盟与美国确实在近期贸易协议中设定了15%的关税上限,但明天将召开紧急会议讨论此事。您认为这会对现有贸易体系造成破坏甚至威胁吗?
克里斯蒂娜·拉加德:我现在不再担任贸易部长,但过去曾是。我不清楚这些会议的具体结果,但15%的关税上限并非简单的一刀切政策。协议中包含豁免条款、特殊安排以及零关税领域。因此,如果这次会议动摇了各方早已习惯的贸易平衡(尽管在今年4月和7月的欧美贸易安排后各方仍在继续贸易),无疑会对商业活动造成干扰。
玛格丽特·布伦南:去年10月,我问您关税政策的影响时,您曾表示全球经济尚未感受到阵痛。现在我们是否已经避免了这种阵痛?消费者是否也幸免于难?
克里斯蒂娜·拉加德:我认为消费者并未幸免。目前多项研究正在评估关税的具体影响及负担分配。虽然部分出口商承担了部分成本,但大部分负担最终落在了美国进口商身上,进而转嫁到消费者。进口商可能通过压缩利润空间吸收部分额外成本,但这种压缩是有限度的,最终必须将部分成本转嫁给消费者。目前我们正开始观察这一过程,众多专业机构也在深入研究。同时,我们自身也在分析数据,以准确评估关税对贸易和经济的影响。当前局势无疑会给这一进程带来新的挑战。
玛格丽特·布伦南:作为央行行长,您如何看待当前全球民粹主义浪潮?在特朗普政府司法部调查美联储主席鲍威尔期间,您曾坚定支持他,强调央行独立性和法治的重要性。我们知道,鲍威尔将于5月卸任,由您也曾共事的凯文·沃什接任。您认为他能否抵御政治压力?
克里斯蒂娜·拉加德:首先,我对鲍威尔、沃什以及历任美联储主席都怀有极大敬意。明天我将以保罗·沃尔克的名义领奖,这是对其货币政策贡献的认可。货币政策的核心是法治和央行独立性。历史与现实都证明,央行(无论是美联储还是欧央行)的独立性至关重要。为何如此?因为利率制定和稳定物价、维护金融稳定的决策往往具有滞后性,影响可能在6个月、12个月甚至2年后才显现。在此期间,政治周期仍在运转,央行必须保持独立性以避免政治干预。因此,全球众多央行行长都支持维护鲍威尔的独立性。
玛格丽特·布伦南:这是一个极具分量的表态——通常央行官员都希望远离政治漩涡,但您显然看到了风险。此外,法国极右翼在明年大选中可能获胜的消息也引发担忧。有报道称,您可能提前卸任欧央行行长,以便为法国总统留出任命继任者的空间,避免极右翼势力干预央行领导权。
克里斯蒂娜·拉加德:我肩负着维护物价稳定和金融稳定的使命,欧元作为我们守护的货币,必须保持强势并适应未来发展。我们已取得诸多成就:通胀达到目标,经济增长虽非强劲但韧性十足(1.5%),失业率处于历史最低水平。但我们需要巩固这些成果,我的计划是完成整个任期。各国选民的选择应得到尊重,而我的职责是确保欧元区经济稳定。
玛格丽特·布伦南:所以——我们不讨论提前卸任的问题,但您认为需要完成整个八年任期的工作?
克里斯蒂娜·拉加德:我还有很多工作要做。
玛格丽特·布伦南:在结束前,请快速回答最后一个问题:面对俄罗斯和中国试图通过本币交易规避欧美制裁的行为,西方如何保持金融杠杆?在乌克兰局势下,西方是否正在失去影响力?
克里斯蒂娜·拉加德:我们的职责是确保欧元区货币和支付系统的强势与独立性,这正是我们持续努力的方向。
玛格丽特·布伦南:非常感谢您今天上午的时间,克里斯蒂娜·拉加德。我们稍后继续。
Transcript: Christine Lagarde, European Central Bank president, on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan,” Feb. 22, 2026
2026-02-22T10:31:52-0500 / CBS News
The following is the transcript of the interview with Christine Lagarde, European Central Bank president, that aired on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan” on Feb. 22, 2026.
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MARGARET BRENNAN: Welcome back to ‘Face The Nation.’ We’re joined now by the head of the European Central Bank, Christine Lagarde. The ECB sets interest rates for many countries in the European Union, which is America’s largest trading partner. It’s great to have you here.
CHRISTINE LAGARDE: Great to be here, Margaret.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Well, particularly in this moment in time where there is confusion over what happens next with global trade. I saw that the Chancellor of Germany, Germany is the biggest economy in Europe, he came out and said, tariffs harm everyone, the biggest poison for the economies of Europe and the U.S. is this uncertainty about tariffs. Did you hear and get any clarity from Ambassador Greer about what’s going to happen next?
CHRISTINE LAGARDE: I’m not so sure. And I tell you, I think it’s, it’s critically important that all people in the trade, both outside of the United States, but also in the United States, have clarity about the future of the relationships. Because, you know, it’s a bit like driving. You want to know the rules of the road before you- you get in the car. It’s the same with trade. It’s the same with investment. You want to know what the rules are, and you want to avoid having to, you know, come back and claim tariffs back. Because this is just not the purpose of people doing business. They want to do business. They don’t want to go into legal suit- legal lawsuits. So I hope it’s going to be clarified, and it’s going to be sufficiently thought through, so that we don’t have, again, more challenges, and the proposals will be in compliance with the constitution, in compliance with the law.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Well, what you just said sounded very similar to what one of the justices raised, I think, it was Justice Gorsuch saying, like, that’s why there is the call to put things in law so that there is clarity for planning ahead. I didn’t hear Ambassador Greer say with any certainty that they’re going to try to put any of these things in law, just use existing regulations, is what I under- heard him what I heard him say. But he did seem certain that the existing trade deals will hold. The EU and the US do have an agreement, 15% tariff ceiling in a recent trade deal. But there’s an emergency meeting about all this tomorrow. Do you see that as disruptive that this could be in jeopardy in fact?
CHRISTINE LAGARDE: I’m no longer trade minister. I used to be. So I don’t know what the outcome of those meetings will be, but it’s not as if it was sort of straightforward 15% across the board. There are also exemptions, there are carve outs, there are areas for which there is no tariffs. So I think if it shakes the whole equilibrium which people in the trade had got used to because they continued trading after the April decisions and the July trade arrangement between the U.S. and Europe, but to sort of shake it up again is going to bring about disruptions in the business for sure.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Well, when you were last year in October, and I asked you about the impact of the tariffs, you said the global economy had not yet felt the pain. Did we avoid that pain? Did the consumer avoid the pain?
CHRISTINE LAGARDE: I don’t think the consumers avoided the pain. And I think that there are many studies that are being completed now to determine what is the impact and where is the burden of tariffs. And I think that while some some exporters have borne some of the brunt, most of it was borne by the U.S. importers and eventually, the U.S. consumers, because the U.S. importers have squeeze their margins a bit to absorb some of these additional cost due to tariffs. But there is a point where you don’t squeeze your margins so much, and you have to pass it on to the consumers. I think this is what we are. We are beginning to see, and, you know, multiple studies and very serious people are looking into this. We are trying to look at the data ourselves to make sure what impact it has on trade and on our economies. And this is a continuous process which is clearly going to be a bit disrupted by the current development.
MARGARET BRENNAN: I want to ask you about, as a central banker, your thoughts on some of the populism we’re seeing right now. You took a lead role in defending Chair Powell, Jerome Powell, here in the United States after President Trump’s Justice Department launched an investigation into him. You said it was critical to preserve the independence of central banks with full respect for the rule of law and democratic accountability. We know Powell is set to be replaced in May by Kevin Warsh, someone you also know from your time as trade minister. Do you believe that he personally can resist political pressure from the President?
CHRISTINE LAGARDE: First of all, I have enormous respect, as you know, for Powell, for Kevin Warsh and for fed chairs in the past, and I’m very proud to receive an award tomorrow in the name of Paul Volcker. You know, for monetary policy, the rule of law is critically important, and the independence of a central bank is critically important. We have seen in history, we have seen in literature, we have seen in, just, anything that analyzes the activity of a central bank, be it the Fed, be it the ECB, that the independence matters a lot. Why is that? Because you don’t want someone who sets interest rates, who has in charge price stability and financial stability, you don’t want that person to be under political influence. And the decisions that we make generally do not impact right away. They produce an effect 6, 12, 18 months, sometimes two years down the road. In the meantime, the political life continues, and we have to be, in a way, immune to that. That’s why many central bankers around the world signed this support to central bank independence as applied to Chair Powell.
MARGARET BRENNAN It was an incredible statement, because usually bankers want to stay out of that spotlight, but you see a real risk here. And- and there is concern about this populist wave, even in France, the far right could win the French election next year. I have to ask you about these reports that you might be leaving the ECB early because of, basically, an insurance policy to allow for the French president to select a successor, rather than potentially a far right leader helping to select a head.
CHRISTINE LAGARDE: I’m riveted to a mission, and my mission is price stability, financial stability. I want the euro, which we are custodian of, to be strong and fit for the future. I think we’ve achieved a lot. Inflation is at target, growth is okay, not brilliant, but resilient, 1.5%, and unemployment is at the lowest level ever. But we need to consolidate all that. And my baseline is that it will take until the end of my term. And electors in any country in the world make their choices, and those choices have to be respected.
MARGARET BRENNAN: So, no- we are not answering on the leaving early, but you think- it sounds like it will take more work till the end of your eight year term–
CHRISTINE LAGARDE: I’m not done.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Very quickly before I let you go. How challenging is it to keep leverage when Russia and China are trying to avoid European sanctions and American sanctions by using their own currency? Is the West losing its leverage as we look towards this war in Ukraine?
CHRISTINE LAGARDE: I think our responsibility is to make sure that our currencies are strong, that our payment systems are strong and independent, and this is certainly something that we are going to continue doing for the reasons that you’ve mentioned.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Christine Lagarde, thank you very much for your time this morning. We’ll be right back.