2019年经济学人 美国的大规模干扰性武器(3)

 

First, instead of using tariffs¹ as a tool to extract specific economic concessions², they are being continuously deployed³ to create a climate of instability with America’s trading partners. The objective of the new Mexican tariffs—fewer migrants crossing the Rio Grande—has nothing to do with trade. And they breach⁴ the spirit of USMCA, a free-trade deal signed by the White House only six months ago, which will replace NAFTA (Congress has yet to ratify⁵ it). Alongside these big fights is a constant barrage⁶ of petty activity. Officials have skirmished over foreign washing machines and Canadian softwood lumber⁷ imports.

第一，关税不是用来迫使特定经济让步的工具，而是不断被用来制造与美国贸易伙伴之间的不稳定气氛。新墨西哥关税的目标——减少穿越里约热内卢格兰德河的移民——与贸易无关。而且他们违反了新北美贸易协定USMCA的精神，USMCA是白宫在六个月前签署的自由贸易协定，将取代北美自由贸易协定NAFTA (国会尚未批准)。除了这些大的行动，还有一连串的琐碎活动。官员们在外国洗衣机和加拿大软木进口问题上发生了冲突。

Second, the scope of activity has been extended beyond physical goods by weaponising America’s network. Outright⁸ enemies such as Iran and Venezuela face tighter sanctions—last year 1,500 people, firms and vessels⁹ were added to the list, a record figure. The rest of the world faces a new regime for tech and finance. An executive order prohibits transactions in semiconductors¹⁰ and software made by foreign adversaries¹¹, and a law passed last year known as firrmapolices foreign investment into Silicon¹² Valley. If a firm is blacklisted, banks usually refuse to deal with it, cutting it off from the dollar payments system. That is crippling—as two firms, ZTE and Rusal, discovered, briefly¹³, last year.

第二，通过将美国的全球化网络武器化，其活动范围已经超出了实物商品。像伊朗和委内瑞拉这样的宿敌面临着更严厉的制裁——去年有1500的个人、公司和船只被列入制裁名单，创历史新高。世界其他地区面临着新的科技和金融体系。一项行政命令禁止外国对手从事半导体和软件交易，去年通过的一项名为外国投资风险评估现代化法案”(FIRRMA)的法律禁止外国投资者进入硅谷。如果一家公司被列入黑名单，银行通常会拒绝交易，将其从美元支付系统中剔除。正如去年中兴通讯和俄铝这两家公司的发现，这一趋势正在削弱。

Such tools used to be reserved for times of war: the legal techniques used for surveillance of the payments system were developed to hunt al-Qaeda. Now a “national emergency” has been declared in tech. Officials have discretion¹⁴ to define what is a threat. Though they often clobber¹⁵ specific firms, such as Huawei, others are running scared. If you run a global company, are you sure your Chinese clients are not about to be blacklisted?

这些工具过去是为战争时期保留的：用于监视支付系统的法律技术是为了追捕基地组织而开发的。如今，科技界宣布进入“国家紧急状态”。官员们有权决定什么是威胁。尽管政府经常痛击特定的公司，比如华为，但其他公司却很害怕。如果你经营一家跨国公司，你确定你的中国客户不会被列入黑名单吗？

1 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。

2 concessions   

n.（尤指由政府或雇主给予的）特许权( concession的名词复数 )；承认；减价；（在某地的）特许经营权

参考例句：

• The firm will be forced to make concessions if it wants to avoid a strike. 要想避免罢工，公司将不得不作出一些让步。
• The concessions did little to placate the students. 让步根本未能平息学生的愤怒。

3 deployed   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的过去式和过去分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Tanks have been deployed all along the front line. 沿整个前线已部署了坦克。
• The artillery was deployed to bear on the fort. 火炮是对着那个碉堡部署的。

4 breach   

n.违反，不履行；破裂；vt.冲破，攻破

参考例句：

• We won't have any breach of discipline.我们不允许任何破坏纪律的现象。
• He was sued for breach of contract.他因不履行合同而被起诉。

5 ratify   

v.批准，认可，追认

参考例句：

• The heads of two governments met to ratify the peace treaty.两国政府首脑会晤批准和平条约。
• The agreement have to be ratify by the board.该协议必须由董事会批准。

6 barrage   

n.火力网，弹幕

参考例句：

• The attack jumped off under cover of a barrage.进攻在炮火的掩护下开始了。
• The fierce artillery barrage destroyed the most part of the city in a few minutes.猛烈的炮火几分钟内便毁灭了这座城市的大部分地区。

7 lumber   

n.木材，木料；v.以破旧东西堆满；伐木；笨重移动

参考例句：

• The truck was sent to carry lumber.卡车被派出去运木材。
• They slapped together a cabin out of old lumber.他们利用旧木料草草地盖起了一间小屋。

8 outright   

adv.坦率地；彻底地；立即；adj.无疑的；彻底的

参考例句：

• If you have a complaint you should tell me outright.如果你有不满意的事，你应该直率地对我说。
• You should persuade her to marry you outright.你应该彻底劝服她嫁给你。

9 vessels   

n.血管( vessel的名词复数 )；船；容器；（具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的）人

参考例句：

• The river is navigable by vessels of up to 90 tons. 90 吨以下的船只可以从这条河通过。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• All modern vessels of any size are fitted with radar installations. 所有现代化船只都有雷达装置。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

10 semiconductors   

n.半导体( semiconductor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Crystals may be insulators, semiconductors, or conductors. 晶体可以是绝缘体，半导体，或导体。 来自辞典例句
• Semiconductors containing such impurities are called p-type semiconductors. 含有这类杂质的半导体叫做P型半导体。 来自辞典例句

11 adversaries   

n.对手，敌手( adversary的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• That would cause potential adversaries to recoil from a challenge. 这会迫使潜在的敌人在挑战面前退缩。 来自辞典例句
• Every adversaries are more comfortable with a predictable, coherent America. 就连敌人也会因有可以预料的，始终一致的美国而感到舒服得多。 来自辞典例句

12 silicon   

n.硅(旧名矽)

参考例句：

• This company pioneered the use of silicon chip.这家公司开创了使用硅片的方法。
• A chip is a piece of silicon about the size of a postage stamp.芯片就是一枚邮票大小的硅片。

13 briefly   

adv.简单地，简短地

参考例句：

• I want to touch briefly on another aspect of the problem.我想简单地谈一下这个问题的另一方面。
• He was kidnapped and briefly detained by a terrorist group.他被一个恐怖组织绑架并短暂拘禁。

14 discretion   

n.谨慎；随意处理

参考例句：

• You must show discretion in choosing your friend.你择友时必须慎重。
• Please use your best discretion to handle the matter.请慎重处理此事。

15 clobber   

v.打垮

参考例句：

• The paper got clobbered with libel damages of half a million pounds.这家报纸被罚以五十万英镑的诽谤损害赔偿金。
• We got clobbered in the game on Saturday.我们在星期六的比赛中一败涂地。