纽约时报 特朗普任命强硬派代表主持与中方的谈判(1)（在线收听）

Trump Appoints Hard-Liner for Trade Talks

特朗普任命强硬派代表主持与中方的谈判

President Trump cast his trade accord with President Xi Jinping of China as a huge victory for American farmers, automakers and other key political constituencies —

华盛顿电——特朗普总统称，他与中国国家主席习近平签署的贸易协定是美国农民、汽车制造商和其他关键政治群体的巨大胜利——

statements that helped send volatile financial markets higher on Monday and seemed intended to calm worries about the economic toll of a protracted trade war.

这一声明推动了原本动荡的金融市场走高，似乎是有意安抚人们对一场旷日持久的贸易战会造成的经济损失产生的担忧。

Yet 42 hours after the deal was struck, several big areas of contention remained unresolved

然而，协议达成42小时后，几大充满争议的问题还是没有得到解决，

and Mr. Trump appointed a veteran trade negotiator with deep skepticism toward China to lead the talks for the United States.

特朗普却任命了一名对中国持严重怀疑态度的资深贸易谈判代表代表美国主持与中方的谈判。

Mr. Trump’s choice of Robert Lighthizer, the United States trade representative, to lead the negotiations is significant,

特朗普选择罗伯特·莱特希泽，美国贸易代表，来领导这次谈判有着重大的意义，

given that the official statements from Saturday’s meeting included only vague commitments

因为周六会议的官方声明中只有模棱两可的承诺，

and that deep divisions remain, particularly over China’s treatment of American companies and push to obtain trade secrets and intellectual property.

也因为深刻的分歧，尤其是中国对待美国公司的方式以及中国对获取商业秘密和知识产权的推动方面的分歧，依然存在。

The administration has been intensely conflicted about how to approach China,

在如何与中国打交道的问题上，特朗普政府一直存在激烈的内部矛盾：

with hard-liners like Mr. Lighthizer advising Mr. Trump to use punishing tariffs to force Beijing to change,

莱特希泽等强硬派建议特朗普用惩罚性关税迫使北京做出改变；

and more moderate advisers, like Steven Mnuchin, the Treasury secretary, encouraging the president to avoid a trade war.

更为温和的顾问，比如财政部长史蒂芬·姆钦，则鼓励总统避免引发贸易战。

Mr. Lighthizer, who recently brokered the new North American trade deal, is a longtime critic of China’s trade practices

最近促成了新的北美贸易协定的莱特希泽对中国的贸易行为一直持批判态度，

and has repeatedly cautioned Mr. Trump not to accept vague promises that fail to materialize.

他还多次警告特朗普不要接受不能兑现的含糊承诺。

He will be taking the reins from Mr. Mnuchin, who led previous rounds of negotiations with the Chinese but could not close a deal that satisfied the president.

此次，他将从姆钦手中接过大权。后者领导了与中方的前几轮谈判，但每次都未能达成令总统满意的协议。