2019年经济学人 波音VS空客(1)

 

Most museum exhibits are beautiful—or at least old.

大多数博物馆的展品都很美，或者至少很古老。

But an exhibition in 2015 at the World Trade Organisation¹ (WTO) included 60 cardboard boxes of documents.

但2015年世界贸易组织（WTO）的一次展览展出了60箱文件。

The point was to give a sense of the scale of two of the body's longest and largest legal disputes,

其目的是为了让人们了解该组织历时最长、规模最大的两起法律纠纷的规模，

over American and European subsidies² for aircraft manufacturers.

这两起纠纷涉及美国和欧洲对飞机制造商的补贴。

Now the fight is moving out of the paperwork phase. That means tariffs³ are coming.

现在，这场斗争已经走出了文书工作阶段。这意味着关税即将到来。

On October 2nd the WTO published its decision to allow the Trump⁴ administration

10月2日，WTO公布其决定，允许特朗普政府

to put tariffs on $7.5bn-worth of imports from the European Union.

对从欧盟进口的75亿美元商品征收关税。

That is intended to match the harm done to Boeing, an American manufacturer, by the EU's subsidies for Airbus, Boeing's European rival.

此举意在弥补欧盟补贴波音的欧洲竞争对手空客而给美国制造商波音造成的损失。

It is the largest retaliation⁵ the WTO has ever approved.

这是WTO批准的有史以来最大的报复行动。

Senior officials at the United States Trade Representative (USTR) called the victory "historic".

美国贸易代表署（USTR）高级官员称这是一场“历史性”的胜利。

The dispute has been long and bitter.

这场纠纷是漫长而激烈的。

In October 2004 America complained to the trade body about loans offered by EU governments to Airbus on easy terms.

2004年10月，美国向WTO投诉称欧盟政府以优惠条款向空客提供贷款。

The following June the EU filed a complaint about the harm to Airbus from subsidies to Boeing,

次年6月，欧盟以税收减免以及与美国国防部签订慷慨合同的形式

in the form of tax breaks and generous contracts with the Department of Defence.

对补贴波音公司对空客公司造成的损害提出申诉。

Since then there has been enough legal back-and-forth to bore the most ardent⁶ plane-spotter.

自那时起，来来回回的法律纠纷足以让热心的飞机观察员感到厌烦。

The WTO ruled against both subsidisers. Each made some adjustments supposed to resolve the other's complaints—but neither was satisfied.

WTO作出不利于双方的裁决。各方都作出了一些调整，希望可以解决另一方的抱怨—但是双方都不满意。

The latest judgment⁷ comes as the EU's claim of compliance⁸ is still being assessed.

最新裁决出炉之际，欧盟的合规声明仍在评估之中。

In around eight months, the WTO is likely to authorise the EU to put tariffs on American imports, completing the tit for tat.

在约八个月内，WTO可能授权欧盟对美国进口征税，以牙还牙。

In a narrow sense, this is the multilateral rules-based trading system working as intended.

在狭义上，这是一个以规则为基础的多边贸易体系。

Both parties went through the proper channels to receive an official judgment. Neither took matters into its own hands.

双方通过适当渠道接受正式判决。双方都没有亲自参与。

The tariffs America is about to impose on Europe are not unilateral bullying⁹, but an enforcement mechanism¹⁰ of last resort.

美国即将对欧洲征收的关税不是单方面的欺凌，而是最后的强制执行机制。

They would probably have been applied¹¹ by any president, even one less tariff- happy than Donald Trump.

任何总统都可能会使用这种机制，哪怕是没唐纳德·特朗普那些喜欢征收关税的总统。

In a broader sense, it shows how vulnerable those multilateral rules are to time-wasters.

从广义上将，这表明那些多边规则对浪费时间的人来说有多么的脆弱。

1 organisation   

n.组织，安排，团体，有机休

参考例句：

• The method of his organisation work is worth commending.他的组织工作的方法值得称道。
• His application for membership of the organisation was rejected.他想要加入该组织的申请遭到了拒绝。

2 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》

3 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。

4 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。

5 retaliation   

n.报复，反击

参考例句：

• retaliation against UN workers 对联合国工作人员的报复
• He never said a single word in retaliation. 他从未说过一句反击的话。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 ardent   

adj.热情的，热烈的，强烈的，烈性的

参考例句：

• He's an ardent supporter of the local football team.他是本地足球队的热情支持者。
• Ardent expectations were held by his parents for his college career.他父母对他的大学学习抱着殷切的期望。

7 judgment   

n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见

参考例句：

• The chairman flatters himself on his judgment of people.主席自认为他审视人比别人高明。
• He's a man of excellent judgment.他眼力过人。

8 compliance   

n.顺从；服从；附和；屈从

参考例句：

• I was surprised by his compliance with these terms.我对他竟然依从了这些条件而感到吃惊。
• She gave up the idea in compliance with his desire.她顺从他的愿望而放弃自己的主意。

9 bullying   

v.恐吓，威逼( bully的现在分词 )；豪；跋扈

参考例句：

• Many cases of bullying go unreported . 很多恐吓案件都没有人告发。
• All cases of bullying will be severely dealt with. 所有以大欺小的情况都将受到严肃处理。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 mechanism   

n.机械装置；机构，结构

参考例句：

• The bones and muscles are parts of the mechanism of the body.骨骼和肌肉是人体的组成部件。
• The mechanism of the machine is very complicated.这台机器的结构是非常复杂的。

11 applied   

adj.应用的；v.应用，适用

参考例句：

• She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
• This cream is best applied to the face at night.这种乳霜最好晚上擦脸用。