美国国家公共电台 NPR Trump's NAFTA Makeover Not So Extreme

 

AILSA CHANG, HOST:

Starting tomorrow, the U.S., Canada and Mexico will begin renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement. And despite very tough talk about NAFTA during the campaign, it appears the Trump¹ administration is backing away from a major assault on the decades-old trade deal. NPR's Chris Arnold reports.

CHRIS ARNOLD, BYLINE²: During the campaign, Donald Trump clearly tapped into frustration³ about workers who had lost jobs in manufacturing. And one of the central villains⁴ responsible for stealing those American jobs was NAFTA.

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PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: NAFTA was the worst deal ever made in the history of the world. It was a one-way highway out of the United States.

ARNOLD: Upon taking office, President Trump followed through on his pledge to scuttle⁵ another trade deal - the Trans-Pacific Partnership⁶, or TPP. But by April of this year, it was becoming clear that NAFTA would be different.

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TRUMP: Well, I was going to terminate NAFTA as of two or three days from now. The president of Mexico, who I have a very, very good relationship, called me. And also the prime minister of Canada, who I have a very good relationship - and I like both of these gentlemen very much - they called me. And they said, rather than terminating NAFTA, could you please renegotiate?

ARNOLD: There are also a lot of U.S. manufacturing and agricultural companies, and businesses of all kinds, really, who do not want the president to throw out NAFTA. Analysts⁷ say most U.S. industries support NAFTA because the deal has actually increased U.S. exports to Canada and Mexico. And it appears that the administration is hearing that message.

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TRUMP: I decided⁸ rather than terminating NAFTA, which would be a pretty big, you know, shock to the system, we will renegotiate.

ARNOLD: OK, so if we're not throwing out NAFTA, what's on the table as far as changes to it?

JAIME REUSCHE: We see the changes as departing from a lot of the rhetoric⁹ that we saw during the campaign, where now we see them as relatively¹⁰ modest.

ARNOLD: Jaime Reusche is a vice¹¹ president with Moody's who follows Mexico. He says that the U.S. is looking to get tougher enforcement of environmental and labor¹² regulations in Mexico. There will also be an effort to update NAFTA with regard to all the information-age technologies, products and issues that didn't exist when NAFTA was created.

Also on the to-do list - it changes to the dispute resolution process between the three countries. But as far as making really big changes to NAFTA, Jaime Reusche says to understand how hard that would be to actually do, just look at that little switch on your car door that makes your window go up and down. He says those switches...

REUSCHE: They start off as small components¹³ in Asia, which are then imported and brought over to the U.S. to Colorado. In Colorado, they make these components into a capacitor. The capacitor then goes over to Mexico.

ARNOLD: And he says the components cross back into the U.S. or Canada, back to the U.S. or Mexico again, before finally being part of a finished car. So multiply that by thousands of different products across a slew¹⁴ of industries. The root system that's been laid down is just an immensely complex web of interconnected business relationships across both borders.

REUSCHE: Perhaps it's a parallel to the health care issue, where they realize, to actually be able to make significant changes that don't hurt anybody, it becomes very challenging to actually change.

ARNOLD: Of course, regardless of what the administration's trade officials have said they want to do so far, you don't have to stretch your imagination too much to think that the president might make news with a tweet or a statement that catches the negotiators on all sides off guard. Caroline Freund is with the Peterson Institute for International Economics.

CAROLINE FREUND: Well, I guess the thing about a wild card is it can go in either direction. So on the one hand, if Trump insisted that Mexico pay for the wall as part of the NAFTA negotiations¹⁵, that would derail the negotiations completely.

ARNOLD: But she says, on the other hand, the president might be able to nudge negotiators in a useful direction, too. Chris Arnold, NPR News.

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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 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。

3 frustration   

n.挫折，失败，失效，落空

参考例句：

• He had to fight back tears of frustration.他不得不强忍住失意的泪水。
• He beat his hands on the steering wheel in frustration.他沮丧地用手打了几下方向盘。

4 villains   

n.恶棍( villain的名词复数 )；罪犯；（小说、戏剧等中的）反面人物；淘气鬼

参考例句：

• The impression of villains was inescapable. 留下恶棍的印象是不可避免的。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Some villains robbed the widow of the savings. 有几个歹徒将寡妇的积蓄劫走了。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

5 scuttle   

v.急赶，疾走，逃避；n.天窗；舷窗

参考例句：

• There was a general scuttle for shelter when the rain began to fall heavily.下大雨了，人们都飞跑着寻找躲雨的地方。
• The scuttle was open,and the good daylight shone in.明朗的亮光从敞开的小窗中照了进来。

6 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。

7 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

8 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

9 rhetoric   

n.修辞学，浮夸之言语

参考例句：

• Do you know something about rhetoric?你懂点修辞学吗？
• Behind all the rhetoric,his relations with the army are dangerously poised.在冠冕堂皇的言辞背后，他和军队的关系岌岌可危。

10 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

11 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。

12 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

13 components   

（机器、设备等的）构成要素，零件，成分； 成分( component的名词复数 )； [物理化学]组分； [数学]分量； （混合物的）组成部分

参考例句：

• the components of a machine 机器部件
• Our chemistry teacher often reduces a compound to its components in lab. 在实验室中化学老师常把化合物分解为各种成分。

14 slew   

v.（使）旋转；n.大量，许多

参考例句：

• He slewed the car against the side of the building.他的车滑到了大楼的一侧，抵住了。
• They dealt with a slew of other issues.他们处理了大量的其他问题。

15 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。