VOA常速英语2014--Pacific Rim Trade Deal Proves Elusive 环太平洋贸易协议协商困难（在线收听）

Pacific Rim Trade Deal Proves Elusive 环太平洋贸易协议协商困难

WASHINGTON — With the U.S.-led war in Iraq ended and American military involvement in Afghanistan winding down, President Barack Obama has sought to pivot the country's foreign policy focus towards Asia.  One aspect of that pivot is the negotiation of a free-trade agreement among 12 Pacific Rim nations.  But as Obama leaves this week on a trip to four Asian countries -- Japan, South Korea, Malaysia and the Philippines -- he has found it very difficult to complete the trade pact. 

America makes cars that it ships around the world, and Japan does the same thing.  U.S. farms sell their beef and pork to customers overseas.  Japan exports its electronic consumer products to faraway countries.

美国制造汽车并将之销售全世界，日本也如此。美国农场向海外消费者销售牛肉和猪肉，日本将电子产品出口至遥远的国家。

This is all just a small part of the international trade that occurs each day.

这些都是每天国际贸易很小的一部分。

Now, 12 countries around the Pacific Rim are negotiating ways to increase that trade, by cutting or ending tariffs and easing regulations.

现在，环太平洋12个国家在协商通过削减或终结关税、放松限制的途径来促进贸易发展。

The Trans-Pacific Partnership, or TPP, is a pillar of President Barack Obama's engagement in Asia, and certain to be a key topic of discussion on his trip.

泛太平洋伙伴关系协定(TPP)是巴拉克·奥巴马总统在亚洲事务的支柱，必定是他此行协商的关键。

U.S. Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker says the trade deal is a top priority of the Obama administration.

美国商务部长潘妮·普利茨克说贸易协议是奥巴马政府的重中之重。

"Opening markets across the Asia-Pacific region to U.S. exports and investment will help promote growth and jobs here in the United States in many ways," she said.

“在亚太地区各地为美国出口和投资打开市场，这将有助于从多个方面促进美国发展和就业。”

The 12 countries account for about 40 percent of the world's economy and 26 percent of its trade.  But reaching a broad trade deal has proved so complicated that some nations are negotiating bilateral agreements.  

这12个国家占全世界经济总量的40%，占全世界26%的贸易。但事实证明达成广泛的贸易协议很复杂，一些国家已经开始协商双边协议了。

Australia agreed this month to ease duties on Japanese electronic products, while Tokyo is curbing tariffs on Australian pork and beef exports.

澳大利亚本月决定减轻对日本电子产品的关税，东京准备对澳大利亚猪肉和牛肉出口降低关税。

The U.S. and Japan have engaged in tough talks on a deal of their own.  U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman recently described the contentious negotiations.

美国和日本已就两国之间的协议进行了艰难的谈判，美国贸易代表迈克尔·弗罗曼最近描述了这种有争议的协商。

"Our teams arrived expecting that the talks would be tough and our expectations have been met," he said. "We understand the challenges."

“我们谈判团来这里，原以为协商会很艰难，不过我们达到了预期，我们明白存在的挑战。”

An overall trade pact could involve much more than tariffs on imported goods.  It could cover banking regulations, drug manufacturing, food safety rules and more.

A critic of the possible trade deal, Lori Wallach of Public Citizen's Global Trade Watch, says the complexity is one reason the agreement is taking so long.

"In every country these issues are controversial," she said.  "So it’s not surprising by over-reaching and having so many countries, they’re having a very hard time in doing any one of those issues.”

The U.S.-led trade effort is partly aimed at displaying American interest in Asia at a time when the world's second biggest economy -- China -- is growing fast and could soon overtake the U.S. as the world's economic leader.

这次以美国为主导的贸易协商部分目的在于展示美国在亚洲的利益，目前世界第二大经济体中国发展很快，将很快超过美国成为世界经济领袖。

But China is not part of the trade talks.

但中国没有参加这些贸易谈判。

Analyst Barbara Kotschwar is with the Washington-based Peterson Institute for International Economics:

分析家Barbara Kotschwar就职于总部在华盛顿的彼得森国际经济研究所。

“At the beginning was the fear a lot of people talked about, the 'C-word,' containment, of China," she said. "I think that that fear has been diminished somewhat and we see the United States and China speaking about negotiating a bilateral investment treaty.”

“最初很多人害怕‘中国’这个词，我认为这种害怕已经有所减轻，我们看到美国和中国都在谈论协商双边投资协议。”

But for now, even without China, 12 Pacific Rim countries are already having enough trouble reaching agreement on ways to collectively expand their economies.

但就目前来说，即使没有中国，这12个环太平洋国家在努力达成联合发展经济的协议上遇到的困难已经够多的了。