2019年经济学人 贸易战争之大豆篇 (2)

 

In January Liu He, China's deputy prime minister, said China would buy 5m tonnes of soyabeans after meeting Mr Trump¹.

1月，中国副总理刘鹤在和特朗普会面后称中国将购买5百万公吨大豆。

Even so, the pace of Chinese purchases is a fraction of what it would ordinarily be around this time of year.

即便如此，中国采购的步调不过是往常这个时候一小部分。

If the tariffs² are lifted, some Chinese demand will recover.

如果免除关税，中国的一些需求将恢复。

The billions of dollars' worth of infrastructure³ that facilitates American sales to China is still in place.

促进美国对中国销售的价值上亿美元的基础设施仍存在。

And China could turn back to America for other reasons.

中国可能会因其他原因而再次转向美国。

To cope with the loss of American exports of soyabeans, for instance, it has lowered the minimum protein content in pig feed.

例如为了解决美国大豆出口的损失，中国降低了猪饲料中的蛋白质最低含量。

But that risks hogs⁴' health and can stunt⁵ their growth.

但这是拿猪猪的健康冒险，还会阻碍它们的生长。

Furthermore, Chinese pig farms have been hit by a nasty bout⁶ of African swine fever, forcing farmers to cull⁷ 5-15% of their hogs,

此外，中国的养猪场受非洲猪瘟打击，养猪农被迫宰掉了5-15%的猪，

according to Michael Magdovitz of Rabobank, a firm that specialises in financing agriculture. But this should prove temporary.

专注农业融资的公司Rabobank的Michael Magdovitz说到。但是事实证明这只是暂时的。

Despite all this, many are sceptical that Chinese demand will ever fully⁸ recover.

尽管如此，很多人都怀疑中国需求是否能够最终完全恢复。

"It was nice" to have guaranteed demand from China, says Mr Bardole, but "those days are gone."

得到中国的需求保证“固然是好事”，巴多尔说到，但“好日子一去不复返了。”

Others worry that the Chinese will respond to this episode by investing more in developing Brazilian agricultural infrastructure,

其他人担心中国将在开发巴西农业基础设施上投入更多并以此回应这一事件，

permanently⁹ decreasing their reliance on America.

最终永久减少他们对美国的依赖。

Not everyone is pessimistic. The current situation "is nothing compared with what we went through in the 1980s," says Randy Souder, another Iowan farmer.

并不是每个人都如此悲观。目前的形式“和20世纪80年代我们所经历的相比不值一提，”另一名爱荷华州农民兰迪·苏德说到。

He remembers that he coped with low prices then by producing more efficiently¹⁰.

他还记得那时他靠着提高生产效率的方式应对低价。

If some farmers are forced out of business, he reckons others will "pick up the acres" and spread their equipment costs over a larger area of land.

如果一些农民被迫歇业，他认为其他人将“接手这些土地”并将他们的设备成本分散到更大面积的土地上。

Prices have crept up in recent months.

近几个月，价格上升了。

Mr Magdovitz says they have been supported by the limited Chinese purchases, optimism that a deal will be agreed and Mr Trump's subsidies¹¹.

Magdovitz表示他们已经得到了中国有限购买量以及特朗普补助金的支持，并乐观认为两国将达成协议。

America's economy as a whole may not depend on exporting to China. But if recent experience is anything to go by, soyabeans are an exception.

美国整体经济可能并不依赖于对中国的出口。但如果近期经验靠得住的话，那么大豆是个例外。

1 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。

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 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

4 hogs   

n.（尤指喂肥供食用的）猪( hog的名词复数 )；（供食用的）阉公猪；彻底地做某事；自私的或贪婪的人

参考例句：

• 'sounds like -- like hogs grunting. “像——像是猪发出的声音。 来自英汉文学 - 汤姆历险
• I hate the way he hogs down his food. 我讨厌他那副狼吞虎咽的吃相。 来自辞典例句

5 stunt   

n.惊人表演，绝技，特技；vt.阻碍...发育，妨碍...生长

参考例句：

• Lack of the right food may stunt growth.缺乏适当的食物会阻碍发育。
• Right up there is where the big stunt is taking place.那边将会有惊人的表演。

6 bout   

n.侵袭，发作；一次(阵，回)；拳击等比赛

参考例句：

• I was suffering with a bout of nerves.我感到一阵紧张。
• That bout of pneumonia enfeebled her.那次肺炎的发作使她虚弱了。

7 cull   

v.拣选；剔除；n.拣出的东西；剔除

参考例句：

• It is usually good practice to cull the poorest prior to field planting.通常在实践上的好方法是在出圃栽植前挑出最弱的苗木。
• Laura was passing around photographs she'd culled from the albums at home.劳拉正在分发她从家里相册中挑选出的相片。

8 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

9 permanently   

adv.永恒地，永久地，固定不变地

参考例句：

• The accident left him permanently scarred.那次事故给他留下了永久的伤疤。
• The ship is now permanently moored on the Thames in London.该船现在永久地停泊在伦敦泰晤士河边。

10 efficiently   

adv.高效率地，有能力地

参考例句：

• The worker oils the machine to operate it more efficiently.工人给机器上油以使机器运转更有效。
• Local authorities have to learn to allocate resources efficiently.地方政府必须学会有效地分配资源。

11 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》