VOA新闻杂志2023 美国农业部瞄准高食品成本,增加竞争

US Agriculture Department to Target High Food Costs, Increase Competition

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) says it aims to lower food prices and increase competition among agricultural businesses.

美国农业部(USDA)表示，其目标是降低食品价格，增加农业企业之间的竞争。

The department plans to work with 31 states and the District of Colombia to target unfair price-setting activities. It also plans to act against anticompetitive behavior in the food and agriculture sectors².

该部门计划与31个州和哥伦比亚特区合作，打击不公平的定价活动。该部还计划打击食品和农业领域的反竞争行为。

On Wednesday, the USDA said it would work with a group of attorneys from both political parties. It aims to enforce laws on price fixing and the consolidation³ of businesses.

周三，美国农业部表示，将与来自两党的律师团队合作，目标是执行有关价格垄断和企业合并的法律。

The government says farmers have been unhappy about low prices for their products and unfair contracts with the biggest buyers and processors in the agriculture industry.

政府表示，农民对他们的产品价格低廉以及与农业行业最大买家和加工商签订的不公平合同感到不满。

Months of rising food prices have some farm groups and lawmakers wondering if companies were unfairly raising prices. Recent reports, however, show that food prices are easing.

几个月来食品价格的上涨让一些农业组织和立法者怀疑公司是否在不公平地提高价格。然而，最近的报告显示，食品价格正在回落。

In a statement, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said: "We can ensure a more robust⁴ and competitive agricultural sector¹."

农业部长汤姆·维尔萨克(Tom Vilsack)在一份声明中表示:“我们可以确保一个更强大、更具竞争力的农业部门。”

The partnership⁵ will bring attention to anticompetitive activities including price fixing and gouging⁶. Price gouging happens when a seller demands unfairly high prices from buyers during periods of increased demand.

这一合作关系将引起人们对包括价格垄断和哄抬物价在内的反竞争行为的关注。哄抬物价是指卖方在需求增加期间向买方提出不公平的高价。

The department also said it wants to create new research programs to study the problem.

该部门还表示，希望创建新的研究项目来研究这个问题。

In the coming months, USDA will also complete new rules under the Packers and Stockyards Act. A top administration official spoke⁷ about the changes in a call with reporters. The Packers and Stockyards Act is a law meant to protect members of the livestock⁸, meat and poultry⁹ industries from unfair trade and businesses that have too much influence over markets known as monopolies.

在接下来的几个月里，美国农业部还将根据《肉品加工厂商与养殖场法案》完成新的规定。一名高级政府官员在与记者通话时谈到了这些变化。《肉品加工厂商与养殖场法案》是一部旨在保护畜牧业、肉类和家禽业成员免受不公平贸易和对市场影响过大的企业(即垄断企业)侵害的法律。

The USDA says it has already proposed two of the three expected rules.

美国农业部表示，已经提出了预期的三项规定中的两项。

The department will also give money to expand the meat and poultry industries. The goal is to increase the number of processing choices available to farmers who raise animals.

该部门还将提供资金扩大肉类和家禽业，此举是为饲养动物的农民提供更多的加工选择。

Vilsack said the new effort is linked to President Joe Biden's executive order this month supporting competition in the American economy. The order calls for a "whole-of-government" competition policy.

维尔萨克说，这项新的努力与拜登总统本月支持美国经济竞争的行政命令有关。该命令要求实施“全政府”的竞争政策。

1 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

2 sectors   

n.部门( sector的名词复数 )；领域；防御地区；扇形

参考例句：

• Berlin was divided into four sectors after the war. 战后柏林分成了4 个区。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Industry and agriculture are the two important sectors of the national economy. 工业和农业是国民经济的两个重要部门。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

3 consolidation   

n.合并,巩固

参考例句：

• The denser population necessitates closer consolidation both for internal and external action. 住得日益稠密的居民，对内和对外都不得不更紧密地团结起来。 来自英汉非文学 - 家庭、私有制和国家的起源
• The state ensures the consolidation and growth of the state economy. 国家保障国营经济的巩固和发展。 来自汉英非文学 - 中国宪法

4 robust   

adj.强壮的，强健的，粗野的，需要体力的，浓的

参考例句：

• She is too tall and robust.她个子太高，身体太壮。
• China wants to keep growth robust to reduce poverty and avoid job losses,AP commented.美联社评论道，中国希望保持经济强势增长，以减少贫困和失业状况。

5 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。

6 gouging   

n.刨削[槽]v.凿( gouge的现在分词 )；乱要价；（在…中）抠出…；挖出…

参考例句：

• Banks and credit-card companies have been accused of gouging their customers. 银行和信用卡公司被指控欺诈顾客。 来自辞典例句
• If back-gouging is applied, grinding to bright metal is required. 如果采用火焰气刨，则应将其打磨至可见光亮的金属表面。 来自互联网

7 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。

8 livestock   

n.家畜，牲畜

参考例句：

• Both men and livestock are flourishing.人畜两旺。
• The heavy rains and flooding killed scores of livestock.暴雨和大水淹死了许多牲口。

9 poultry   

n.家禽，禽肉

参考例句：

• There is not much poultry in the shops. 商店里禽肉不太多。
• What do you feed the poultry on? 你们用什么饲料喂养家禽?