AGRICULTURE REPORT - American Trade Proposal

AGRICULTURE REPORT
–
August 13, 2002: American Trade Proposal¹

This is the VOA Special English AGRICULTURE REPORT.

The United States has proposed² a plan to reform international trade rules for farm
products. The United States is proposing³ to cut government assistance⁴ to American
farmers. In exchange, it wants other countries to make deep cuts in their agricultural
spending.

The proposal comes two months after President Bush signed a major farm bill. The
new law increases government aid for farmers. It is estimated⁵ to cost one-hundredninety-
thousand-million dollars over the next ten years. Critics say the measure

forces down world crop prices and reduces the money earned by farmers in developing countries.

Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman described the new proposal last month at a meeting of agriculture ministers
in Nara, Japan. The ministers were from the United States, Canada, the European Union, Australia and Japan.

She said the proposal would end all government assistance for farm exports over five years. The United States
also urged other countries to cut taxes on food and agricultural imports. Mizz Veneman said the world average
for such taxes is sixty -two percent. She said the proposal would reduce the tax rate to fifteen percent. It also
would result in no tax higher than twenty -five percent. Currently⁶, the average American tax on imported farm
products is twelve percent.

The proposal also would limit government aid for farmers to five percent of the value of a country’s agricultural
production. The United States currently spends nineteen-thousand-million dollars each year on such farm aid
programs. The proposal would reduce the amount to ten-thousand-million dollars.

For the European Union, the decrease in farm aid would be even greater. It would drop from more than sixty thousand-
million dollars to twelve-thousand-million dollars a year. In Japan, the amount would drop from thirty-
three-thousand-million dollars to four-thousand-million dollars a year.

E-U and Japanese officials have criticized⁷ the American proposal. They say it requires a great deal more effort
from other countries than from the United States. However, the top farm officials from Australia and Canada
expressed general support for the American position. American farm groups also expressed support for the
proposal.

This VOA Special English AGRICULTURE REPORT was written by George Grow.

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1 proposal   

n.提议，建议；求婚

参考例句：

• I feel that we ought to accept his proposal.我觉得我们应该接受他的建议。
• They could not gain over anyone to support their proposal.他们无法争取到支持他们建议的人。

2 proposed   

被提议的

参考例句：

• There is widespread discontent among the staff at the proposed changes to pay and conditions. 员工对改变工资和工作环境的建议普遍不满。
• an outcry over the proposed change 对拟议的改革所发出的强烈抗议

3 proposing   

v.提议，建议( propose的现在分词 )；打算；提供（解释）；提出（行动，计划或供表决的方案等）

参考例句：

• The bridegroom ended his speech by proposing a toast to the hosts. 新郎向主人敬酒结束了他的讲话。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He acted as pioneer in proposing the method. 他是率先创导这一方法的人。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

4 assistance   

n.援助，帮助

参考例句：

• She called and called but no one came to her assistance.她叫了又叫，但没有人来帮。
• He will get the great possible assistance.他将获得尽可能大的帮助。

5 estimated   

adj．根据估计的

参考例句：

• She estimated the breadth of the lake to be 500 metres. 她估计湖面大约有500米宽。
• The man estimated for the repair of the car. 那人估算了修理汽车的费用。

6 currently   

adv.通常地，普遍地，当前

参考例句：

• Currently it is not possible to reconcile this conflicting evidence.当前还未有可能去解释这一矛盾的例证。
• Our contracts are currently under review.我们的合同正在复查。

7 criticized   

vt.批评(criticize的过去式)v.评论，批评( criticize的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The decision was criticized by environmental groups. 这个决定受到了环保团体的批评。
• The movie has been criticized for apparently legitimizing violence. 这部电影因明显地美化暴力而受到了指责。