Mercosur agrees on new measures to protect local industries

 MENDOZA, Argentina, June 29 (Xinhua) -- Members of the Common Market of the South (Mercosur) announced Friday that each member country is allowed to decide whether to hike import tariffs² unilaterally to protect the region's industries.

At a Mercosur Summit held in the western Argentine city of Mendoza, the Mercosur members approved a unilateral raise of import tariffs on 200 goods instead of a hike on 100 products, which was agreed upon at the previous summit held in Montevideo last December.

"The maximum raise of tariff¹ will be 35 percent as the World Trade Organization authorizes," a Brazilian delegate told Xinhua anonymously³.

At the summit, the member countries also rejected Brazil and Argentina's plan to raise the Common External Tariff within the bloc⁴.

Mercosur was established in 1991 to create a common market in the Southern Cone⁵ of South America.It has four full members -- Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay.

1 tariff   

n.关税，税率；(旅馆、饭店等)价目表，收费表

参考例句：

• There is a very high tariff on jewelry.宝石类的关税率很高。
• The government is going to lower the tariff on importing cars.政府打算降低进口汽车的关税。

2 tariffs   

关税制度； 关税( tariff的名词复数 )； 关税表； （旅馆或饭店等的）收费表； 量刑标准

参考例句：

• British industry was sheltered from foreign competition by protective tariffs. 保护性关税使英国工业免受国际竞争影响。
• The new tariffs have put a stranglehold on trade. 新的关税制对开展贸易极为不利。

3 anonymously   

ad.用匿名的方式

参考例句：

• The manuscripts were submitted anonymously. 原稿是匿名送交的。
• Methods A self-administered questionnaire was used to survey 536 teachers anonymously. 方法采用自编“中小学教师职业压力问卷”对536名中小学教师进行无记名调查。

4 bloc   

n.集团；联盟

参考例句：

• A solid bloc of union members support the decision.工会会员团结起来支持该决定。
• There have been growing tensions within the trading bloc.贸易同盟国的关系越来越紧张。

5 cone   

n.圆锥体，圆锥形东西，球果

参考例句：

• Saw-dust piled up in a great cone.锯屑堆积如山。
• The police have sectioned off part of the road with traffic cone.警察用锥形路标把部分路面分隔开来。