美国国家公共电台 NPR His Company Makes Speakers. Now He's Speaking Out, Opposing Tariffs

 

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

President Trump¹'s trade war looks like it's backfiring for many of the nation's factories. Manufacturing activity has slumped² in recent months, and analysts³ say the ongoing⁴ tariff⁵ battle between the U.S. and China is partly to blame. NPR's Scott Horsley reports on how the trade war is affecting one manufacturing company in Minnesota.

SCOTT HORSLEY, BYLINE⁶: The Misco speaker company in St. Paul, Minn., is celebrating its 70th anniversary this year. Dan Digre's dad started the company after serving in World War II.

DAN DIGRE: He was a B-17 radio operator and came back to the United States and married a woman with a bad radio. Turned out the radio wasn't bad but the speaker was bad, so he started his own speaker repair business.

HORSLEY: In its early days, Misco made rugged⁷ outdoor sound systems, like these.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: Good evening, folks, and a hearty⁸ welcome to our drive-in theater.

HORSLEY: Today the company employs about a hundred people in a state-of-the-art factory near the Minnesota State Fairgrounds. They assemble a wide variety of speakers for musicians, home theater buffs, even restaurant drive-throughs. Digre says there used to be a big speaker industry in the United States. But over the last two decades, most companies moved offshore⁹. And their suppliers moved with them.

DIGRE: Either suppliers went to China or they probably went out of business.

HORSLEY: Digre kept his factory in Minnesota, but he relies on some components¹⁰ imported from China. Since last fall, he's had to pay tariffs¹¹ on those components, which are now at 25%. If he built the whole speaker in China, like some of his competitors, he'd pay less. Digre's tried to pass some of the tariff bill onto customers. He's also asked his Chinese suppliers for a tariff discount. But his company has had to absorb most of the extra cost.

DIGRE: It comes out of our bottom line. And that's the money that we need to be reinvesting in new technology, in new products - all of the things that makes your business competitive in a global economy.

HORSLEY: Every time Digre imports components from China, he gets a bill from U.S. Customs saying how much he owes in tariffs. He's surprised how many Americans mistakenly believe that China is footing the bill. Maybe that's because President Trump keeps insisting that China's paying the tariffs. Recently, Trump told Fox News he's in no hurry to make a deal with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "FOX AND FRIENDS")

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: He wants to make it much more than I want to make it. I'm not anxious to make it. We're taking in hundreds of billions of dollars in tariffs. We never took in 10 cents.

HORSLEY: The actual tariff bill is tens of billions of dollars, not hundreds of billions. For China to foot that bill, researchers at the Federal Reserve Bank in New York said last week Chinese suppliers would have to cut their prices by about 20%. So far, the price of Chinese imports has fallen just 2%. Tennessee Congressman¹² Jim Cooper complained at a hearing last month - Americans are paying the rest.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

JIM COOPER: This is a tax that is not on foreigners. This is a tax on our own people.

HORSLEY: At his speaker factory in Minnesota, Dan Digre says the higher cost of components is not the only problem.

DIGRE: A tweet could come out this afternoon that could dramatically change a tariff rate.

HORSLEY: Economists¹³ say that uncertainty¹⁴ has many business owners holding their breath, reluctant to make decisions or investments.

DIGRE: And that's, I think, one of the drags that American businesses are feeling right now. None of us know what it's going to look like in a year, in two years, even two weeks.

HORSLEY: This week, Digre's traveling to the Philippines to look for alternative components he could buy without having to pay a tariff.

DIGRE: We're trying to keep building speakers here in the U.S., but there's only a couple of us left in the country to do it. And you know, if these tariffs go on a lot longer, I don't know if there'll be anybody left in this country to do it.

HORSLEY: Ultimately, Digre says, he might have to move his whole factory overseas, cutting those 100 jobs - exactly the opposite of what the president said he wanted when he started this trade war.

Scott Horsley, NPR News.

(SOUNDBITE OF CAVES OF STEEL'S "KEEP PAINTING")

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 slumped   

大幅度下降，暴跌( slump的过去式和过去分词 )； 沉重或突然地落下[倒下]

参考例句：

• Sales have slumped this year. 今年销售量锐减。
• The driver was slumped exhausted over the wheel. 司机伏在方向盘上，疲惫得睡着了。

3 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。

4 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

5 tariff   

n.关税，税率；(旅馆、饭店等)价目表，收费表

参考例句：

• There is a very high tariff on jewelry.宝石类的关税率很高。
• The government is going to lower the tariff on importing cars.政府打算降低进口汽车的关税。

6 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。

7 rugged   

adj.高低不平的，粗糙的，粗壮的，强健的

参考例句：

• Football players must be rugged.足球运动员必须健壮。
• The Rocky Mountains have rugged mountains and roads.落基山脉有崇山峻岭和崎岖不平的道路。

8 hearty   

adj.热情友好的；衷心的；尽情的，纵情的

参考例句：

• After work they made a hearty meal in the worker's canteen.工作完了，他们在工人食堂饱餐了一顿。
• We accorded him a hearty welcome.我们给他热忱的欢迎。

9 offshore   

adj.海面的，吹向海面的；adv.向海面

参考例句：

• A big program of oil exploration has begun offshore.一个大规模的石油勘探计划正在近海展开。
• A gentle current carried them slowly offshore.和缓的潮流慢慢地把他们带离了海岸。

10 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。

11 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。

12 Congressman   

n.（美）国会议员

参考例句：

• He related several anecdotes about his first years as a congressman.他讲述自己初任议员那几年的几则轶事。
• The congressman is meditating a reply to his critics.这位国会议员正在考虑给他的批评者一个答复。

13 economists   

n.经济学家，经济专家( economist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The sudden rise in share prices has confounded economists. 股价的突然上涨使经济学家大惑不解。
• Foreign bankers and economists cautiously welcomed the minister's initiative. 外国银行家和经济学家对部长的倡议反应谨慎。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 uncertainty   

n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物

参考例句：

• Her comments will add to the uncertainty of the situation.她的批评将会使局势更加不稳定。
• After six weeks of uncertainty,the strain was beginning to take its toll.6个星期的忐忑不安后，压力开始产生影响了。