美国国家公共电台 NPR Tariffs Are Having A Chilling Effect On More U.S. Businesses

 

AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

We're going to get another view of how the growing trade fight is affecting American businesses by learning about what's happening inside U.S. meat lockers¹. Here's NPR's Chris Arnold.

CHRIS ARNOLD, BYLINE²: If you want to see what a trade fight can do to exports, what's happening with pork is pretty dramatic. Mary Lovely is an economist³ at Syracuse University, and she says after two rounds of retaliatory⁴ tariffs⁵ by China, ham and various other pork products now face massive tariffs between 62 and 70 percent.

MARY LOVELY: In recent weeks, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has reported zero weekly export sales of pork to China. So our exports to the country have pretty much collapsed⁶.

ARNOLD: That doesn't just affect hog⁷ farmers. Chuck McCarthy runs a cold storage meat warehousing business in the Port of Wilmington at North Carolina.

CHUCK MCCARTHY: Well, I tell you. We're a relatively⁸ new company. We've been very busy in the first year, year and a half and - but have noticed a change since the tariffs with China and all that started.

ARNOLD: McCarthy says his biggest customer was sending him sizable loads of pork products every day to ship to China. It was a lot of work, more than a hundred thousand dollars a month.

MCCARTHY: We're blast-freezing that product for them. We're storing it for them. We're preparing it for export. We're loading the containers out.

ARNOLD: But...

MCCARTHY: About four weeks ago, it just stopped. And I called to inquire about why it had stopped, and they said that their company was not packing anything for China as a result of the political situations that were going on.

ARNOLD: So the trade fight between the Trump⁹ administration and China means a big hit for McCarthy's business. But the overall U.S. economy is strong. And so far, the tariffs are affecting a very small fraction of it. And that's even true for the refrigerated warehouse¹⁰ and shipping¹¹ industry that McCarthy's a part of. Corey Rosenbusch is the president of the industry group the Global Cold Chain Alliance.

COREY ROSENBUSCH: Our members are not reporting any impact from the tariffs at this point.

ARNOLD: Rosenbusch says some members like McCarthy might be getting hurt but not enough to get on his radar¹². He says most refrigerated warehouses¹³ are packed to the rafters with all kinds of products that are not for export or affected¹⁴ by tariffs - frozen pizzas, chicken for local stores.

ROSENBUSCH: I was at a facility the other day, for example, that stores coffee creamer. And they had 75 different types of coffee creamer they were storing.

ARNOLD: But while the tariffs aren't affecting most of the economy yet, many industries are worried that the damage could quickly get a lot worse, especially if President Trump follows through with more tariffs that he's considering, for example, on cars and auto¹⁵ parts. That industry is opposed to the tariffs, and some companies say they're already holding off on hiring and are nervous about the impact on jobs going forward.

For his part, the warehouse operator Chuck McCarthy says he supports the president trying to get better trade deals, but he doesn't want all this to drag on for much longer either.

MCCARTHY: If you start having problems with tariffs and people not wanting to buy our products and we not buying theirs, you know, after a little while, you've got to pull it back in a little bit and say, well, let's negotiate on that a little more, you know (laughter)?

ARNOLD: That's exactly the kind of conversation the president of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, will be likely trying to have with President Trump at the White House tomorrow. Chris Arnold, NPR News.

1 lockers   

n.寄物柜( locker的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• I care about more lockers for the teachers. 我关心教师要有更多的储物柜。 来自辞典例句
• Passengers are requested to stow their hand-baggage in the lockers above the seats. 旅客须将随身携带的行李放入座位上方的贮藏柜里。 来自辞典例句

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 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。

4 retaliatory   

adj.报复的

参考例句：

• The process can take years before the WTO approves retaliatory action. 在WTO通过此行动之前，这个程序恐怕要等上一阵子了。 来自互联网
• Retaliatory tariffs on China are tantamount to taxing ourselves as a punishment. 将惩罚性关税强加于中国相当于对我们自己实施课税惩罚。 来自互联网

5 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。

6 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

7 hog   

n.猪；馋嘴贪吃的人；vt.把…占为己有，独占

参考例句：

• He is greedy like a hog.他像猪一样贪婪。
• Drivers who hog the road leave no room for other cars.那些占着路面的驾驶员一点余地都不留给其他车辆。

8 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。

9 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。

10 warehouse   

n.仓库；vt.存入仓库

参考例句：

• We freighted the goods to the warehouse by truck.我们用卡车把货物运到仓库。
• The manager wants to clear off the old stocks in the warehouse.经理想把仓库里积压的存货处理掉。

11 shipping   

n.船运（发货，运输，乘船）

参考例句：

• We struck a bargain with an American shipping firm.我们和一家美国船运公司谈成了一笔生意。
• There's a shipping charge of ￡5 added to the price.价格之外另加五英镑运输费。

12 radar   

n.雷达，无线电探测器

参考例句：

• They are following the flight of an aircraft by radar.他们正在用雷达追踪一架飞机的飞行。
• Enemy ships were detected on the radar.敌舰的影像已显现在雷达上。

13 warehouses   

仓库，货栈( warehouse的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The whisky was taken to bonded warehouses at Port Dundee. 威士忌酒已送到邓迪港的保稅仓库。
• Row upon row of newly built warehouses line the waterfront. 江岸新建的仓库鳞次栉比。

14 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。

15 auto   

n.(=automobile)(口语)汽车

参考例句：

• Don't park your auto here.别把你的汽车停在这儿。
• The auto industry has brought many people to Detroit.汽车工业把许多人吸引到了底特律。