VOA慢速英语2019 马来西亚不满欧盟的棕榈油新规

Malaysia Unhappy About Europe’s New Palm Oil Rules

The European Union and the world's largest palm oil exporters, Malaysia and Indonesia, are having their own trade dispute.

欧盟同全球最大的棕榈油出口国马来西亚以及印尼产生了贸易争端。

In March, the EU announced that it would stop supporting palm oil as a transportation fuel by 2030 because of environmental concerns.

今年3月，欧盟宣布由于环保问题，到2030年将会停止支持将棕榈油作为运输燃料。

The EU has linked the intensive growing of oil palms to deforestation in Malaysia and Indonesia.

欧盟还将马来西亚以及印尼的油棕密集增长同森林砍伐联系了起来。

Now, the countries are threatening to bring a case on the issue to the World Trade Organization.

这些国家现在威胁要将这一问题提交到世界贸易组织。

Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad told Reuters that the EU is risking a trade war over "grossly unfair" policies that looked like protectionism. Mohamad also said Malaysia would seek to buy new warplanes from China and not European companies if the EU stopped its palm oil trade.

马来西亚总理马哈蒂尔对路透社表示，欧盟是在冒险打一场贸易战，这些严重不公平的贸易政策就像是保护主义。马哈蒂尔还表示，如果欧盟停止进口棕榈油，马来西亚将寻求从中国而不是欧洲公司购买最新的战机。

Reports say Malaysia is considering a deal for new fighter jets worth as much as $1 billion.

报道称马来西亚正在考虑购买价值高达10亿美元的新型战斗机。

The Malaysian Palm Oil Council is an industry group based in Malaysia. It warns that the new EU rules would hurt Malaysia's palm oil industry, which, it says, makes up six percent of the country's total economy.

马来西亚棕榈油委员会是一家总部设在马来西亚的工业组织。该委员会警告称，欧盟的新规定会伤害马来西亚的棕榈油产业，该产业占到了马来西亚经济总量的6%。

The EU is turning away from palm oil because new rules mean that members will not be able to count palm oil biofuels toward their renewable energy targets. The EU says the crop is the cause of deforestation, which does not help efforts to limit carbon emissions¹ linked to climate change. Malaysia says the EU's concerns are overblown.

欧盟正在转身抛弃棕榈油，因为新规定意味着成员国无法将棕榈油生物燃料纳入各自的可再生能源目标。欧盟表示，这种作物造成了森林砍伐，这无助于限制与气候变化相关的碳排放。马来西亚表示，欧盟的担忧是夸大其词。

Experts: issue could push Malayasia toward China, Russia

专家称争端可能将马来西亚推向中俄

Peter Mumford is with the Eurasia Group, which advises on political risk. He said that Europe does not want to be seen arguing against its own environmental policy. And, he said the countries that wish to sell Malaysia fighter jets might not have enough influence to change the policy supported by the European Commission and European Parliament.

彼得·芒福德就职于提供政策风险咨询的欧亚集团。他说欧洲不希望被视为反对自己的环保政策。他说希望向马来西亚出售战斗机的国家可能没有足够影响力来改变欧盟委员会和欧洲议会支持的政策。

Shankaran Nambiar is with the Malaysian Institute of Economic Research. He said Malaysia's palm oil exports are not a small matter and that Mohamed might want to continue to press the issue. He also said China and Russia may be willing to buy more palm oil. India is the largest market for Malaysia's palm oil; the EU is second followed by China.

商卡兰·南比尔就职于马来西亚经济研究所。他说，马来西亚的棕榈油出口不是一件小事，马哈蒂尔可能会继续就此争端施压。他还表示，中国和俄罗斯可能愿意购买更多的棕榈油。印度是马来西亚棕榈油最大的市场，欧盟排在第二，然后是中国。

Malaysian Defense² Minister Mohamad Sabu spoke³ to reporters about the issue. He said that China, Russia and other countries might be willing to trade defense equipment for Malaysia's palm oil. Malaysia is suffering from the effects of heavy public debt and a weak economy. Trading oil for jets might appear like a good possibility.

马来西亚国防部长萨布就此问题对记者发表了讲话。他说中国、俄罗斯和其它国家可能愿意用国防设备换取马来西亚的棕榈油。马来西亚正受到沉重的公共债务和经济疲软的影响，用油换飞机可能看上去很靠谱。

China has proved willing to barter⁴ in the past and their jets would be less costly⁵ than European ones. But Jon Grevatt said there was little discussion of buying from China in March at Malaysia's LangKawi International Maritime⁶ and Aerospace⁷ exhibition.

事实证明中国过去愿意进行易货贸易，而且他们的喷气式飞机比欧洲喷气式飞机的成本更低。但是乔恩·格莱维特表示，3月份在马来西亚兰卡威国际海事和航空航天展览会上没怎么讨论从中国采购的问题。

Grevatt said Malaysia still is probably five to 10 years away from buying new, light fighter airplanes. In that time, the new EU rules will more likely show their effects.

格莱维特表示，马来西亚距离购买新型战斗机还有5到10年的时间。到时欧盟新规影响可能更大。

Palm oil is used in many products -- from processed foods to soap. The EU rules do not bar the importation of palm oil. Instead, they target using palm oil as a biofuel by making it not count towards requirements for using renewable energy.

棕榈油用于从加工食品到肥皂的众多产品。欧盟规定不禁止进口棕榈油。相反，他们针对的是将棕榈油作为生物燃料，手段是使其不纳入使用可再生能源的要求。

Words in This Story

deforestation –n. the act of cutting down or burning trees in an area

grossly –adv. to a very big degree

protectionism –n. the practice of helping⁸ businesses and industries of one’s own country by making laws that limit or taxes ones from other countries

overblown –adj. to seem more important than it is

barter –v. to exchange things or services for other things instead of money

1 emissions   

排放物( emission的名词复数 )； 散发物（尤指气体）

参考例句：

• Most scientists accept that climate change is linked to carbon emissions. 大多数科学家都相信气候变化与排放的含碳气体有关。
• Dangerous emissions radiate from plutonium. 危险的辐射物从钚放散出来。

2 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

3 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

4 barter   

n.物物交换，以货易货，实物交易

参考例句：

• Chickens,goats and rabbits were offered for barter at the bazaar.在集市上，鸡、山羊和兔子被摆出来作物物交换之用。
• They have arranged food imports on a barter basis.他们以易货贸易的方式安排食品进口。

5 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。

6 maritime   

adj.海的，海事的，航海的，近海的，沿海的

参考例句：

• Many maritime people are fishermen.许多居于海滨的人是渔夫。
• The temperature change in winter is less in maritime areas.冬季沿海的温差较小。

7 aerospace   

adj.航空的，宇宙航行的

参考例句：

• The world's entire aerospace industry is feeling the chill winds of recession.全世界的航空航天工业都感受到了经济衰退的寒意。
• Edward Murphy was an aerospace engineer for the US Army.爱德华·墨菲是一名美军的航宇工程师。

8 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。