VOA常速英语2019--新一轮贸易战或对中美企业产生巨大冲击

When the US first imposed tariffs¹ on Chinese goods, Beijing predicted the strategy would backfire. In China’s manufacturing heartland Guangdong, entrepreneurs and workers are feeling the pinch as the talks drag on. At a recent industrial Expo, several spoke² with VOA about the impact. Our target market is in mainland China, mainly those machine tool factories. Now they have been affected³, so naturally we will be affected too. For now, I hope the economy will be more stable and better, of course right? What worries us is that the trade war really begins on a full scale and imposes a huge impact on us that worries everyone, right? None of us would want that.

美国第一次对中国商品施加关税时，中国政府就曾预测该关税策略会适得其反。在中国的制造业中心广东，许多企业家和工人都感受到了贸易战会谈拖延所产生的阵痛。在最近举行的一次工业博览会上，几位企业家和工人在接受我台采访时谈到了贸易战拖延的影响。我们的目标市场在中国大陆，主要是机床工厂。现在，这些都受到了影响，所以我们自然也会受到波及。目前，我希望经济能更平稳，走势更强劲，当然，谁不这样希望呢？我们担心的是贸易战全面开启，对我们产生重大影响，这是所有人都担心的问题，大家都知道。大家都不希望有这一天。

It’s exactly that we don’t have much to produce. We don’t have orders. We don’t hire anyone. We have too many people here. They are trying to lay off some because they can’t make ends meet anymore. Having to pay so many people, there are no orders so we all re just sitting around. This is not targeted at exporters in just one particular industry. Everyone is facing the problem. Chinese business have already diversified⁴ in recent years: Building factories abroad to save labor⁵ costs and finding new suppliers. Some business owners here are looking to the government to help them better compete.

现在的情况是：我们不需要生产什么产品，因为我们没有订单，自然也就不需要雇佣新的员工，现在的员工已经够多了。他们尝试开除一些人，因为企业入不敷出了。必须要养活这么多员工，但却没有什么订单，只能干坐着。这不是针对某个行业的出口方，所有行业都面临同样的问题。近年来，中国企业百花齐放：在国外建造工厂以节省人工成本，并寻找新的供应商。中国的一些企业家正在寻求政府帮助来增强竞争力。

The tariffs the US imposed on us have really been a big blow on Chinese businesses. We’re waiting to see if our government can come up policies that give us some support. Government aids will be good, too. I can’t really comment much on this, but I think in terms of the development of our economy, first of all, China has its own market, and second, the outside world has also been more and more transparent⁶ for us. On the whole, things are heading toward a better future, so I think our businesses should adapt to the environment instead of trying to change the environment. We can’t change the environment.

美国施加的关税对于中国的许多企业来说是当头一棒。我们想等等，看政府是否能制定一些支持性政策。政府援助也是好的。对这一点，我不做过多讨论，不过我认为，就经济发展来说，首先，中国有自己的市场；其次，外面的市场对我们来说也越来越透明化了。整体来说，在朝着好的方向发展。所以，我认为我们的企业应该适应环境，而非试图改变环境，因为环境是无法改变的。

1 tariffs   

关税制度； 关税( tariff的名词复数 )； 关税表； （旅馆或饭店等的）收费表； 量刑标准

参考例句：

• British industry was sheltered from foreign competition by protective tariffs. 保护性关税使英国工业免受国际竞争影响。
• The new tariffs have put a stranglehold on trade. 新的关税制对开展贸易极为不利。

2 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。

3 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

4 diversified   

adj.多样化的，多种经营的v.使多样化，多样化( diversify的过去式和过去分词 )；进入新的商业领域

参考例句：

• The college biology department has diversified by adding new courses in biotechnology. 该学院生物系通过增加生物技术方面的新课程而变得多样化。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Take grain as the key link, develop a diversified economy and ensure an all-round development. 以粮为纲，多种经营，全面发展。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

5 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

6 transparent   

adj.明显的，无疑的；透明的

参考例句：

• The water is so transparent that we can see the fishes swimming.水清澈透明，可以看到鱼儿游来游去。
• The window glass is transparent.窗玻璃是透明的。