美国国家公共电台 NPR As Trump Moves To Renegotiate NAFTA, U.S. Farmers Are Hopeful But Nervous

 

RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

President Donald Trump¹ made his view of the North American Free Trade Agreement clear during the presidential election.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: NAFTA was the worst trade deal in the history - it's, like, the history of this country.

MONTAGNE: Trump blames NAFTA for the loss of millions of U.S. manufacturing jobs. Now his administration is demanding changes during current negotiations², changes that may be difficult for Mexico and Canada to accept. As NPR's John Ydstie reports, that's making many American farmers and ranchers nervous.

JOHN YDSTIE, BYLINE³: In the fellowship hall of a Lutheran church on Maryland's Eastern Shore, Chip Councell, a local farmer, is singing the praises of the lunch the church ladies just served to a trade delegation⁴ from Taiwan.

CHIP COUNCELL: This is truly a local meal. Local sweet corn, tomatoes, crab⁵ cakes from the local rivers...

YDSTIE: This little white church sits in the middle of corn and soybean fields on America's rich farm land between the Atlantic Ocean and the Chesapeake Bay. Councell raises corn, soybeans and wheat. His ancestors began farming here in 1690.

COUNCELL: My son farms with us in the operation, and he is the 11th generation.

YDSTIE: And Councell says in today's world, U.S. farmers have to look abroad for markets.

COUNCELL: Ninety six percent of the world's population lives outside of our borders. We are very blessed in this country to have productive farm land, productive agricultural system. And if we are going to grow and prosper⁶, then the outside of our borders - that is our market.

YDSTIE: Canada and Mexico, America's NAFTA partners, are two of the biggest markets for U.S. farmers. For instance, Mexico is the No. 1 buyer of U.S. corn. So Councell, a past president of the U.S. Grains Council, says he and a lot of other corn farmers were alarmed when candidate Trump attacked NAFTA, a trade deal that has opened the door for U.S. corn exports to Mexico and Canada. He says he has been told by Trump administration officials that they understand NAFTA's importance for agriculture.

COUNCELL: One of the main goals that we've been told by the administration is to do no harm to agriculture. Having said that, unfortunately, if we look back over time in history, if there are trade disputes among countries, easily, agriculture is the one that gets hit first and hit the hardest.

YDSTIE: Trade expert Chad Bown of the Peterson Institute for International Economics agrees.

CHAD BOWN: Yes, I think it's inevitable⁷ that agriculture will suffer collateral⁸ damage if the NAFTA agreement is terminated or somehow ends up being in much diminished form. Agriculture has been such a success story for the United States.

YDSTIE: And not just for corn exports.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: Let's give Mike another big round of applause.

(APPLAUSE)

YDSTIE: At the North Dakota Stockmen's Association meeting in Fargo recently, a roomful of ranchers in big hats and pearl button shirts heard speakers talk about the relationship between exports and prices. Julie Ellingson, who raises cattle with her husband south of Mandan, is the group's executive vice⁹ president.

JULIE ELLINGSON: Beef exports drive about $300 of value per animal. And so that is real dollars and cents to the farmers and ranchers across North Dakota not only because of the pounds of meat that goes across the borders, the kinds of beef that those foreign consumers are purchasing - things that don't have as much value here in the United States.

YDSTIE: Cuts like tongue, liver and kidneys are more valuable in Mexico, which buys $800 million worth of U.S. beef a year. Canada imports a billion dollars' worth a year, including a lot of middle cuts, like steaks and roasts. NAFTA pushed tariffs¹⁰ to zero, virtually eliminating the barriers to the beef trade between the U.S. and its two neighbors. The Trump administration has said its goal is to make sure U.S. farmers don't lose in the renegotiation of NAFTA. But back amid the cornfields of Maryland's Eastern Shore, Chip Councell says he's not sure how it will turn out.

COUNCELL: I don't think anybody knows. We're optimistic. We're hopeful but a little bit nervous, as well.

YDSTIE: John Ydstie, NPR News.

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 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 delegation   

n.代表团；派遣

参考例句：

• The statement of our delegation was singularly appropriate to the occasion.我们代表团的声明非常适合时宜。
• We shall inform you of the date of the delegation's arrival.我们将把代表团到达的日期通知你。

5 crab   

n.螃蟹，偏航，脾气乖戾的人，酸苹果；vi.捕蟹，偏航，发牢骚；vt.使偏航，发脾气

参考例句：

• I can't remember when I last had crab.我不记得上次吃蟹是什么时候了。
• The skin on my face felt as hard as a crab's back.我脸上的皮仿佛僵硬了，就象螃蟹的壳似的。

6 prosper   

v.成功，兴隆，昌盛；使成功，使昌隆，繁荣

参考例句：

• With her at the wheel,the company began to prosper.有了她当主管，公司开始兴旺起来。
• It is my earnest wish that this company will continue to prosper.我真诚希望这家公司会继续兴旺发达。

7 inevitable   

adj.不可避免的，必然发生的

参考例句：

• Mary was wearing her inevitable large hat.玛丽戴着她总是戴的那顶大帽子。
• The defeat had inevitable consequences for British policy.战败对英国政策不可避免地产生了影响。

8 collateral   

adj.平行的；旁系的；n.担保品

参考例句：

• Many people use personal assets as collateral for small business loans.很多人把个人财产用作小额商业贷款的抵押品。
• Most people here cannot borrow from banks because they lack collateral.由于拿不出东西作为抵押，这里大部分人无法从银行贷款。

9 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

10 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。