美国国家公共电台 NPR Trump Official Dismisses Warnings About Trade Tensions As 'Hiccups'

 

ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:

Tensions over President Trump¹'s trade policies are growing this week, and some surprising groups of people are unhappy about it. Organizations that typically support Trump say the tariffs² against major U.S. trading partners could undermine the strong economy. The Trump administration is showing no signs of backing down. For the latest, we're joined by NPR's Jim Zarroli. Hi, Jim.

JIM ZARROLI, BYLINE³: Hi, Ari.

SHAPIRO: The U.S. Chamber⁴ of Commerce put out a statement today taking issue with the president's trade policies. Tell us about what the statement said.

ZARROLI: Well, one of the things it said - it's - it really - it had a kind of an analysis in it of how much the tariffs will cost every state. So state economies in some states, like Washington and Ohio, will lose billions of dollars, as much as $6 billion. It also said, you know, the president has done a lot of things right in the economy, like the tax cuts. But a trade war could really undermine that. Then, Tim Phillips of Americans for Prosperity, which is a Koch brothers-funded group, said virtually the same thing on MSNBC today.

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TIM PHILLIPS: This administration deserves a lot of credit for this economy doing better, with their tax cuts, tax reforms, eliminating barriers on the regulatory front. But these tariffs risk undermining everything good that's been happening.

ZARROLI: And the important thing here is not just that they don't like Trump's policies. It's that groups like the Chamber of Commerce and Americans for Prosperity, they have a lot of money to spend. And they're saying that they're willing to use it to fight the Trump administration's policies.

SHAPIRO: And outside of the U.S., the president is doing battle with some of America's major trading partners. Explain how this is playing out.

ZARROLI: It - (laughter) well, it's not playing out well. Over the weekend, Canada imposed some tariffs on U.S. exports, things like whiskey, coffee products. The European Union came out with some comments the other day about Trump's proposed tariffs on autos. It said this will only backfire against the U.S. And this coming Friday, the Trump administration is supposed to slap some tariffs on Chinese imports, and China is going to retaliate⁵. It's drawn⁶ up this long list of American products that is - that are going to be affected⁷.

So you know, Trump has said many times that the - you know, once the U.S. started getting on - tough on what he says are these abusive trading practices, that other countries would give in. And there's simply no sign of that happening at this point.

SHAPIRO: And is there any sign that all this pushback is swaying the administration?

ZARROLI: Not really. I mean, Wilbur Ross, the Commerce secretary, he's been one of the big trade hawks⁸ in the administration. He was on CNBC today. He was asked about the fact that the stock market has been pretty lackluster this year. And a lot of people think that's because of the trade war. And so he - Ross was asked, how much of a drop in the markets are you willing to tolerate until you change course on trade? And this is what he had to say.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

WILBUR ROSS: The president is trying to fix long-term problems that should have been dealt with long time ago - weren't. And there obviously is going to be some pulling and tugging⁹ as we try to deal with very serious problems.

ZARROLI: And then Trump over the weekend have had some really strong words about trade, especially about the European Union. He said - he was on Fox, and he said in an interview, they treat us very unfairly. He actually said the European Union is possibly as bad as China, just smaller. And he said every country that has a trade deficit¹⁰ with the United States should be subject to tariffs. So he's not backing down.

SHAPIRO: All right. NPR's Jim Zarroli. Thanks, Jim.

ZARROLI: You're welcome.

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 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 chamber   

n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所

参考例句：

• For many,the dentist's surgery remains a torture chamber.对许多人来说，牙医的治疗室一直是间受刑室。
• The chamber was ablaze with light.会议厅里灯火辉煌。

5 retaliate   

v.报复，反击

参考例句：

• He sought every opportunity to retaliate against his enemy.他找机会向他的敌人反击。
• It is strictly forbidden to retaliate against the quality inspectors.严禁对质量检验人员进行打击报复。

6 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

7 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

8 hawks   

鹰( hawk的名词复数 )； 鹰派人物，主战派人物

参考例句：

• Two hawks were hover ing overhead. 两只鹰在头顶盘旋。
• Both hawks and doves have expanded their conditions for ending the war. 鹰派和鸽派都充分阐明了各自的停战条件。

9 tugging   

n.牵引感v.用力拉，使劲拉，猛扯( tug的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Tom was tugging at a button-hole and looking sheepish. 汤姆捏住一个钮扣眼使劲地拉，样子显得很害羞。 来自英汉文学 - 汤姆历险
• She kicked him, tugging his thick hair. 她一边踢他，一边扯着他那浓密的头发。 来自辞典例句

10 deficit   

n.亏空，亏损；赤字，逆差

参考例句：

• The directors have reported a deficit of 2.5 million dollars.董事们报告赤字为250万美元。
• We have a great deficit this year.我们今年有很大亏损。