美国有线新闻 CNN 习近平主席释放减税信号 解释中美贸易战对美国民众的影响

 

From the civil war in Syria, we're explaining a possible trade war between the U.S. and China —or is it all over before it could begin?

Earlier this week, Chinese President Xi Jinping said his nation would strengthen intellectual property rights, increase foreign access to China's markets and significantly lower tariffs² or taxes on imported cars. These are all things that President Trump³ wants China to do. The American leader says he's thankful for the Chinese leader's words and now, it's possible that the back-and-forth tariffs between the two nations would c?ome to a stop.

But what if they don't? What if actions don't follow words and the two countries continue ramping⁴ up tariffs instead of ho???lding back on them? How could a potential trade war affect every day Americans?

VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN MONEY CORRESPONDENT: People are freaking out about a trade war with China. But why?

Well, the U.S. imports more products from China than any other country in the world, $505 billion worth of goods in 2017, while only sending $130 billion worth of products to China. This creates a gap of $370 billion, a large part of the trade deficit⁵ with China.

In the time I've been talking, did you notice all the products in the room that are made in China have disappeared? Now, a trade war with China doesn't mean we'd stop importing these Chinese goods, but it does go to show just how much we depend on them.

Let's rewind in case you missed it. For example, this TV. The U.S. imports $146 billion worth of electrical machinery⁶ and equipment. The most of anything we import from China. This includes remotes, laptops and cellphones.

Also, sneakers. We import $1.4 billion worth a year. And these umbrellas, the U.S. imported $113 million worth in 2017, and China happens to be the world's largest supplier of umbrellas. And the list goes on.

One thing we export a lot of is playing cards, but the cards stack we print in is from — you guessed it — China. There's no tariff¹, but we still spent $120 million importing card stack last year.

So, while these products aren't going anywhere, they could have some stiff tariffs on them, which means our lives could get a little more expensive.

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 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

4 ramping   

土堤斜坡( ramp的现在分词 )； 斜道； 斜路； （装车或上下飞机的）活动梯

参考例句：

• The children love ramping about in the garden. 孩子们喜欢在花园里追逐嬉戏，闹着玩。
• Have you ever seen a lion ramping around? 你看到过狮子暴跳吗？

5 deficit   

n.亏空，亏损；赤字，逆差

参考例句：

• The directors have reported a deficit of 2.5 million dollars.董事们报告赤字为250万美元。
• We have a great deficit this year.我们今年有很大亏损。

6 machinery   

n.(总称)机械，机器；机构

参考例句：

• Has the machinery been put up ready for the broadcast?广播器材安装完毕了吗？
• Machinery ought to be well maintained all the time.机器应该随时注意维护。