美国国家公共电台 NPR Deal Or No Deal? The Stakes Are High For Trump-Xi Trade Talks

 

NOEL KING, HOST:

President Trump¹ heads to Japan this afternoon for the G-20 summit. But much of the focus will be on the G-2, the United States and China. President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping have a chance to diffuse² their ongoing³ trade war, or possibly to escalate⁴ it. NPR's Scott Horsley has the story.

SCOTT HORSLEY, BYLINE⁵: Summits like the G-20 are often a chance for geopolitical speed dating. President Trump has meetings scheduled with at least eight world leaders over the next three days. But none is more consequential⁶ than his sit-down Saturday with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Two big, very different personalities⁷ jockeying for global power and economic might with hundreds of billions of dollars' worth of trade on the line. Matthew Goodman, who served in both the George W. Bush and Obama administrations, says the talks could go either way.

MATTHEW GOODMAN: They may have an incentive⁸ to do a deal and shake hands. I think that's the least likely outcome. The other extreme is that they have a breakdown⁹ and they decide they're going to escalate further. That's possible, but I think also not the most likely.

HORSLEY: Like many observers, Goodman thinks the likeliest course is a temporary truce¹⁰ that leaves existing tariffs¹¹ in place but postpones¹² additional taxes on Chinese imports while the two sides go back to the bargaining table. David Dollar, who focused on China at the Treasury¹³ Department and the World Bank, agrees. Although Trump has threatened to impose tariffs on another $300 billion worth of Chinese goods, Dollar says that would be costly¹⁴ for both countries.

DAVID DOLLAR: At the minimum, I think it's in the U.S. interest to hold off on the next round of tariffs 'cause I think that's going to have a fairly serious effect on the U.S. economy and a bad effect on markets.

HORSLEY: The stock market breathed a sigh of relief last week when Trump said he had a very good telephone conversation with Xi. Still, Dollar says, it's doubtful the two countries can quickly nail down an agreement that would address all the U.S. concerns around intellectual property protection and China's forced transfer of American know-how¹⁵.

DOLLAR: I just don't see how that can be negotiated in the next couple of days.

HORSLEY: The White House also downplayed expectations for the Xi meeting, saying Trump is comfortable with any outcome. Ordinarily, the U.S. could expect some support from allies around the G-20 table, many of whom share Washington's concerns about China. But Michael Green of the Center for Strategic and International Studies says Trump has pursued a go-it-alone strategy while simultaneously¹⁶ picking fights with Europe, Japan and neighbors in North America.

MICHAEL GREEN: What we're doing is we're saying loudly that we're the sheriff, and there's a bad guy at the end of the street and we're going to get him. You know, we're calling the posse together, which would be Japan and Europe, and then we're shooting at them.

HORSLEY: Far from rallying the international community, Trump often thumbs his nose at it. In fact, it's not clear the president will even go along with the traditional joint¹⁷ statement at the end of the G-20 summit if other countries insist on including tough warnings about protectionism or the dangers of manmade climate change. That could be awkward for Japan, which is hosting the summit. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has frequently courted Trump both on and off the golf course. Mireya Solis of the Brookings Institution says Abe will try to preserve a veneer¹⁸ of international cooperation.

MIREYA SOLIS: He wants to have a functional¹⁹ G-20. But with a very unconventional president and outspoken²⁰ critic, I think that's going to be an uphill battle.

HORSLEY: Abe will hold his own one-on-one meeting with Trump where they'll discuss a possible U.S.-Japan trade agreement. Trump's withdrawal²¹ from a big Asia-Pacific trade pact²² has left U.S. exporters at a disadvantage in Japan. Trump wants to strike a new bargain. If that fails, he's held out the threat of steep tariffs on Japanese cars.

Scott Horsley, NPR News, Washington.

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 diffuse   

v.扩散；传播；adj.冗长的；四散的，弥漫的

参考例句：

• Direct light is better for reading than diffuse light.直射光比漫射光更有利于阅读。
• His talk was so diffuse that I missed his point.他的谈话漫无边际，我抓不住他的要点。

3 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。

4 escalate   

v.(使)逐步增长(或发展)，(使)逐步升级

参考例句：

• It would tempt Israel's neighbors to escalate their demands.它将诱使以色列的邻国不断把他们的要求升级。
• Defeat could cause one side or other to escalate the conflict.失败可能会导致其中一方将冲突升级。

5 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。

6 consequential   

adj.作为结果的，间接的；重要的

参考例句：

• She was injured and suffered a consequential loss of earnings.她受了伤因而收入受损。
• This new transformation is at least as consequential as that one was.这一新的转变至少和那次一样重要。

7 personalities   

n. 诽谤，（对某人容貌、性格等所进行的）人身攻击； 人身攻击；人格, 个性, 名人( personality的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• There seemed to be a degree of personalities in her remarks.她话里有些人身攻击的成分。
• Personalities are not in good taste in general conversation.在一般的谈话中诽谤他人是不高尚的。

8 incentive   

n.刺激；动力；鼓励；诱因；动机

参考例句：

• Money is still a major incentive in most occupations.在许多职业中，钱仍是主要的鼓励因素。
• He hasn't much incentive to work hard.他没有努力工作的动机。

9 breakdown   

n.垮，衰竭；损坏，故障，倒塌

参考例句：

• She suffered a nervous breakdown.她患神经衰弱。
• The plane had a breakdown in the air,but it was fortunately removed by the ace pilot.飞机在空中发生了故障，但幸运的是被王牌驾驶员排除了。

10 truce   

n.休战，(争执，烦恼等的)缓和；v.以停战结束

参考例句：

• The hot weather gave the old man a truce from rheumatism.热天使这位老人暂时免受风湿病之苦。
• She had thought of flying out to breathe the fresh air in an interval of truce.她想跑出去呼吸一下休战期间的新鲜空气。

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 postpones   

v.延期，推迟( postpone的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• So it at least postpones the amount of taxes on due. 因此它至少推延了税金的交纳。 来自互联网
• Even if it does, this just postpones the day of reckoning. 但即便如此，也只是推迟了不得不解决根本问题的日子而已。 来自互联网

13 treasury   

n.宝库；国库，金库；文库

参考例句：

• The Treasury was opposed in principle to the proposals.财政部原则上反对这些提案。
• This book is a treasury of useful information.这本书是有价值的信息宝库。

14 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

15 know-how   

n.知识；技术；诀窍

参考例句：

• He hasn't got the know-how to run a farm.他没有经营农场的专业知识。
• I don't have much know-how about engines.发动机方面的技术知识我知之甚少。

16 simultaneously   

adv.同时发生地，同时进行地

参考例句：

• The radar beam can track a number of targets almost simultaneously.雷达波几乎可以同时追着多个目标。
• The Windows allow a computer user to execute multiple programs simultaneously.Windows允许计算机用户同时运行多个程序。

17 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

18 veneer   

n.(墙上的)饰面，虚饰

参考例句：

• For the first time her veneer of politeness began to crack.她温文尔雅的外表第一次露出破绽。
• The panel had a veneer of gold and ivory.这木板上面镶饰了一层金和象牙。

19 functional   

adj.为实用而设计的，具备功能的，起作用的

参考例句：

• The telephone was out of order,but is functional now.电话刚才坏了，但现在可以用了。
• The furniture is not fancy,just functional.这些家具不是摆着好看的，只是为了实用。

20 outspoken   

adj.直言无讳的，坦率的，坦白无隐的

参考例句：

• He was outspoken in his criticism.他在批评中直言不讳。
• She is an outspoken critic of the school system in this city.她是这座城市里学校制度的坦率的批评者。

21 withdrawal   

n.取回，提款；撤退，撤军；收回，撤销

参考例句：

• The police were forced to make a tactical withdrawal.警方被迫进行战术撤退。
• They insisted upon a withdrawal of the statement and a public apology.他们坚持要收回那些话并公开道歉。

22 pact   

n.合同，条约，公约，协定

参考例句：

• The two opposition parties made an electoral pact.那两个反对党订了一个有关选举的协定。
• The trade pact between those two countries came to an end.那两国的通商协定宣告结束。