2019年经济学人 单独行事 (2)

 

In the post-war period American governments tended to side with the purists.

在战后时期，美国政府倾向支持纯粹主义者。

But according to Anne Krueger of Johns Hopkins University, writing in the Journal of Economic Perspectives,

但是约翰霍普金斯大学的安妮·克鲁格在《经济展望杂志》中写道，

by 1982 gridlock in multilateral talks meant it switched to a twin-track approach, simultaneously¹ pushing for multilateral deals and negotiating preferential ones.

到1982年，多边会谈中的僵局意味着其转向双轨制，力图多边贸易的同时又协商特惠协议。

Chief among these was the North American Free Trade Agreement,

其中为首的就是北美自由贸易协定，

which came into force in 1994 and is due to be replaced by the United States-Mexico-Canada agreement (USMCA).

其于1994年生效并将被美墨加三国协议（USMCA）所取代。

The approach spread. Nearly 300 preferential trade deals are now recorded by the WTO.

这种方式传播开来。WTO现在记录了近300份特惠贸易协议。

Many go beyond tariff²-cutting to include rules on state-owned enterprises, intellectual property and trade in services.

很多协议远不止关税减让，还包括针对国有企业的规则、知识产权以及服务贸易。

Having grown into an integrated trading area, the EU became an enthusiastic proponent³,

EU已成长为了一个综合的贸易区，它变成了一位热情的支持者，

striking many reciprocal deals, including with Canada, Mexico and Singapore. In June it started talks with Australia.

和包括加拿大、墨西哥以及新加坡在内的多国签署了互惠协议。今年6月，EU开始和澳大利亚进行会谈。

As such deals proliferated⁴, economists⁵ studied their impact. One fear had been that they might divert custom from more efficient producers in third countries.

随着这种协议的激增，经济学家研究了它们的影响。担忧之一是它们可能会转移第三国更高效生产商的关税。

But a paper by Aaditya Mattoo, Alen Mulabdic and Michele Ruta of the World Bank, published in 2017,

但世界银行的阿迪蒂亚·玛图、艾伦·穆拉比奇以及米歇尔·鲁塔于2017年发表的一篇论文发现

found that shallow deals do little to reduce trade with third countries, and deep ones tend to increase it.

这种浅薄的协议和减少第三国贸易关系不大，并且深入协议易于增加第三国贸易。

This, they think, is because rules on competition policy, subsidies⁶ and standards are hard to apply in a discriminatory way.

他们认为这是因为针对竞争政策、补贴和标准的规定很难以一种歧视性的方式进行。

But there is also reason to fear that preferential deals weaken the impetus⁷ towards comprehensive liberalisation.

但还是有理由担心特惠协议会削弱全面自由化的动力。

Nuno Limao of the University of Maryland, and others,

马里兰大学的Nuno Limao以及其他人发现

have found that America and the EU offered less tariff liberalisation in multilateral talks in product areas where they had already granted preferential tariffs⁸ in bilateral⁹ deals.

美国和欧盟已经在一些产区的双边协议中实施了特惠关税，而在这些地区的双边会谈中，美国和欧盟提供的关税自由更少。

Though previous American administrations were sometimes frustrated¹⁰ with the WTO, they viewed it as the foundation of the trading system.

虽然之前的美国政府对WTO偶感失望，但是他们将这视为贸易体系的基础。

Preferential deals were an instrument of diplomacy¹¹. TPP was intended to create a template for a trading system that might eventually include China,

特惠协议是一种外交手段。TPP曾旨在为一种最终包括中国的贸易体系创造模板，

and perhaps give reform-minded Chinese policymakers something to aim for.

并且有可能为决心改革的中国决策人提供目标。

1 simultaneously   

adv.同时发生地，同时进行地

参考例句：

• The radar beam can track a number of targets almost simultaneously.雷达波几乎可以同时追着多个目标。
• The Windows allow a computer user to execute multiple programs simultaneously.Windows允许计算机用户同时运行多个程序。

2 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。

3 proponent   

n.建议者；支持者；adj.建议的

参考例句：

• Stapp became a strong early proponent of automobile seat belts.斯塔普是力主在汽车上采用座椅安全带的早期倡导者。
• Halsey was identified as a leading proponent of the values of progressive education.哈尔西被认为是进步教育价值观的主要支持者。

4 proliferated   

激增( proliferate的过去式和过去分词 )； （迅速）繁殖； 增生； 扩散

参考例句：

• Books and articles on the subject have proliferated over the last year. 过去一年以来，论及这一问题的书和文章大量涌现。
• Influenza proliferated throughout the country. 流感在全国蔓延。

5 economists   

n.经济学家，经济专家( economist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The sudden rise in share prices has confounded economists. 股价的突然上涨使经济学家大惑不解。
• Foreign bankers and economists cautiously welcomed the minister's initiative. 外国银行家和经济学家对部长的倡议反应谨慎。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 subsidies   

n.补贴，津贴，补助金( subsidy的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• European agriculture ministers failed to break the deadlock over farm subsidies. 欧洲各国农业部长在农业补贴问题上未能打破僵局。
• Agricultural subsidies absorb about half the EU's income. 农业补贴占去了欧盟收入的大约一半。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 impetus   

n.推动，促进，刺激；推动力

参考例句：

• This is the primary impetus behind the economic recovery.这是促使经济复苏的主要动力。
• Her speech gave an impetus to my ideas.她的讲话激发了我的思绪。

8 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。

9 bilateral   

adj.双方的，两边的，两侧的

参考例句：

• They have been negotiating a bilateral trade deal.他们一直在商谈一项双边贸易协定。
• There was a wide gap between the views of the two statesmen on the bilateral cooperation.对双方合作的问题，两位政治家各自所持的看法差距甚大。

10 frustrated   

adj.挫败的，失意的，泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的过去式和过去分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧

参考例句：

• It's very easy to get frustrated in this job. 这个工作很容易令人懊恼。
• The bad weather frustrated all our hopes of going out. 恶劣的天气破坏了我们出行的愿望。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 diplomacy   

n.外交；外交手腕，交际手腕

参考例句：

• The talks have now gone into a stage of quiet diplomacy.会谈现在已经进入了“温和外交”阶段。
• This was done through the skill in diplomacy. 这是通过外交手腕才做到的。