美国国家公共电台 NPR Tariffs' Complex Ripple Effects Hit Appliance Shoppers And Makers

 

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

OK. We're going to spend the next few minutes talking about household appliances. Not so much about how they can refrigerate your food or wash your clothes, but rather, how they help us understand the current trade dispute between the U.S. and China. NPR's Alina Selyukh explains.

ALINA SELYUKH, BYLINE¹: Home renovations. If you've done one, you know it can be exasperating³, time-consuming, expensive. And Jani Mussetter is doing more than a renovation². She's doing a remodel⁴ - bathrooms and a whole new kitchen.

JANI MUSSETTER: It really was daunting⁵, the whole experience. You know, I bought everything. I bought a washer, dryer⁶, a refrigerator, freezer, dishwasher, a range.

SELYUKH: And as she was going to showrooms for all these appliances in January, this stressful thing kept coming up.

MUSSETTER: The moment I walked in, everyone pretty much warned me that February 1, everything was going up.

SELYUKH: As in going up in price. And because Mussetter was shopping on the higher end, that could mean hundreds of dollars.

Did they say why?

MUSSETTER: They said because of all of the tariffs⁸.

SELYUKH: The tariffs. They've been making a huge impact on the cost of appliances in the U.S. Take Whirlpool. It's a leading American appliance maker⁹, and Whirlpool prices barely changed for years, says Alvaro Lacayo, housing analyst¹⁰ at G.research.

ALVARO LACAYO: And then when you look at what happened in 2018, you saw a big tick upward.

SELYUKH: And at first, the price ticking upward was pretty welcome news for Whirlpool. It reflected Whirlpool's victory over its two main foreign competitors, LG and Samsung. They're both based in South Korea, and for years, Whirlpool argued...

LACAYO: That LG and Samsung had been dumping appliances into the U.S. market at below cost, rendering¹¹ competition irrational¹².

SELYUKH: And last January, President Trump¹³ agreed with Whirlpool. He set a new hefty tariff⁷ on imported washing machines. Selling washers to Americans became more expensive for foreign companies, and domestic manufacturers, like Whirlpool, could finally raise prices. But then Trump imposed more tariffs - on metals, like aluminum¹⁴ and steel, which is critical to building almost any appliance. Suddenly, appliance makers¹⁵ everywhere, including Whirlpool, began complaining about the rising cost of raw materials. They had little choice but to start hiking their own prices.

STEVE SHEINKOPF: On certain products, you could be looking at a 14 to 16 percent increase from last year to this year.

SELYUKH: Steve Sheinkopf owns Yale Appliance and Lighting¹⁶ in the Boston area, and he's been in the industry his whole life.

SHEINKOPF: I'm the third-generation owner. Yeah. We're here in Boston and have been here for almost a hundred years now. It's hard to believe. You know, I haven't been here all hundred.

SELYUKH: But, you know, about 1/3 of that. Sheinkopf says many brands he works with, like Wisconsin-based Sub-Zero and Wolf, or German Thermador, they regularly inch up their prices. But in the past year, the increases have been bigger than most. Now overall prices of major appliances, tracked by the Labor¹⁷ Department, are starting to tick down month to month, but they are still higher than they were last year.

SHEINKOPF: When you talk about machines that people want to buy, front-loaders, I think you're looking at $200 to $400 difference versus¹⁸ last year.

SELYUKH: Sheinkopf predicts prices are probably stabilized¹⁹ at this point, at least for a while. But for shoppers who chase specials and deals, he says promotions²⁰ have not been as good as a few years ago. He's noticed one other thing about Whirlpool's Korean competitors. Last year, both LG and Samsung fast-tracked two manufacturing plants in America. It's great news for American jobs, but for Whirlpool...

SHEINKOPF: I think this is the biggest challenge they'll ever have.

SELYUKH: And Mussetter, who is remodeling her house, she did manage to buy all her appliances before the February price jump. She later learned that saved her more than $1,200. Alina Selyukh, NPR News.

1 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。

2 renovation   

n.革新，整修

参考例句：

• The cinema will reopen next week after the renovation.电影院修缮后，将于下星期开业。
• The building has undergone major renovation.这座大楼已进行大整修。

3 exasperating   

adj. 激怒的 动词exasperate的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• Our team's failure is very exasperating. 我们队失败了，真是气死人。
• It is really exasperating that he has not turned up when the train is about to leave. 火车快开了， 他还不来，实在急人。

4 remodel   

v.改造，改型，改变

参考例句：

• Workmen were hired to remodel and enlarge the farm buildings.雇用了工人来改造和扩建农场建筑。
• I'll remodel the downstairs bedroom first.我先要装修楼下那间房间。

5 daunting   

adj.使人畏缩的

参考例句：

• They were faced with the daunting task of restoring the house.他们面临着修复房子的艰巨任务。
• Starting a new job can be a daunting prospect.开始一项新工作有时会让人望而却步。

6 dryer   

n.干衣机，干燥剂

参考例句：

• He bought a dryer yesterday.他昨天买了一台干燥机。
• There is a washer and a dryer in the basement.地下室里有洗衣机和烘干机。

7 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。

8 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。

9 maker   

n.制造者，制造商

参考例句：

• He is a trouble maker，You must be distant with him.他是个捣蛋鬼，你不要跟他在一起。
• A cabinet maker must be a master craftsman.家具木工必须是技艺高超的手艺人。

10 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

11 rendering   

n.表现，描写

参考例句：

• She gave a splendid rendering of Beethoven's piano sonata.她精彩地演奏了贝多芬的钢琴奏鸣曲。
• His narrative is a super rendering of dialect speech and idiom.他的叙述是方言和土语最成功的运用。

12 irrational   

adj.无理性的，失去理性的

参考例句：

• After taking the drug she became completely irrational.她在吸毒后变得完全失去了理性。
• There are also signs of irrational exuberance among some investors.在某些投资者中是存在非理性繁荣的征象的。

13 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。

14 aluminum   

n.(aluminium)铝

参考例句：

• The aluminum sheets cannot be too much thicker than 0.04 inches.铝板厚度不能超过0.04英寸。
• During the launch phase,it would ride in a protective aluminum shell.在发射阶段，它盛在一只保护的铝壳里。

15 makers   

n.制造者，制造商（maker的复数形式）

参考例句：

• The makers of the product assured us that there had been no sacrifice of quality. 这一产品的制造商向我们保证说他们没有牺牲质量。
• The makers are about to launch out a new product. 制造商们马上要生产一种新产品。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 lighting   

n.照明，光线的明暗，舞台灯光

参考例句：

• The gas lamp gradually lost ground to electric lighting.煤气灯逐渐为电灯所代替。
• The lighting in that restaurant is soft and romantic.那个餐馆照明柔和而且浪漫。

17 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。

18 versus   

prep.以…为对手，对；与…相比之下

参考例句：

• The big match tonight is England versus Spain.今晚的大赛是英格兰对西班牙。
• The most exciting game was Harvard versus Yale.最富紧张刺激的球赛是哈佛队对耶鲁队。

19 stabilized   

v.（使）稳定， （使）稳固( stabilize的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The patient's condition stabilized. 患者的病情稳定下来。
• His blood pressure has stabilized. 他的血压已经稳定下来了。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

20 promotions   

促进( promotion的名词复数 )； 提升； 推广； 宣传

参考例句：

• All services or promotions must have an appeal and wide application. 所有服务或促销工作都必须具有吸引力和广泛的适用性。
• He promptly directed the highest promotions and decorations for General MacArthur. 他授予麦克阿瑟将军以最高的官阶和勋奖。