2019年经济学人 一周要闻 全球股市持续承压 日韩贸易争端加剧 美政府延期对华征税

 

The world this week

本周要闻

Business

商业

Spooked by concerns over trade, geopolitical tensions and the possibility of recession, stockmarkets had their worst day of the year so far. The s&p 500, Dow Jones Industrial Average and NASDAQ indices all fell by 3% in a day. In Europe the DAX was down by 2.2% and the FTSE 100 by 1.4%. Investors¹ were particularly concerned by the yield on long-term American government bonds falling below that on short-term bonds for the first time since 2007. Such a yield-curve inversion² is usually seen as a harbinger of a downturn.

由于担心贸易、地缘政治紧张局势和经济衰退的可能性，股市经历了今年以来最糟糕的一天。标准普尔500指数、道琼斯工业平均指数和纳斯达克指数都在一天内下跌了3%。欧洲达克斯指数下跌2.2%，富时100指数下跌1.4%。投资者尤为担心的是，美国长期国债收益率自2007年以来首次跌破短期国债收益率。这种收益率曲线反转通常被视为经济衰退的先兆。

Also weighing on markets was news that Germany’s GDP shrank by 0.1% in the second quarter compared with the previous three months, underlining the recent fall in German exports and industrial output. Britain’s economy also shrank in the second quarter, by 0.2%, the first contraction³ of British GDP since the end of 2012.

另一个令市场承压的消息是，德国第二季度国内生产总值(GDP)较第一季度缩水0.1%，凸显出德国出口和工业产出近期的下滑。英国经济在第二季度也缩水了0.2%，这是自2012年底以来英国GDP的首次收缩。

Meanwhile, the growth rate of Chinese industrial output slowed to 4.8% in July compared with the same month last year. That was the slowest pace in more than 17 years and more evidence of the chilling effects of the trade war on the Chinese economy.

与此同时，中国7月份工业产值同比增速放缓至4.8%。这是17年多来的最低增速，也进一步证明了贸易战对中国经济的寒蝉效应。

Earlier in the week, despondent⁴ markets had lifted when the Trump⁵ administration said it would postpone⁶ a 10% tariff⁷ on some Chinese imports until December 15th. The list of goods includes smartphones, laptops, video-game consoles and toys, which Donald Trump suggested would benefit shoppers in the run-up to Christmas. The delay applies to two-thirds of the products subjected to this particular levy⁸. A 10% tariff will be collected on the other Chinese goods from September 1st.

本周早些时候，当特朗普政府表示将把对部分中国进口商品征收10%的关税推迟到12月15日时，沮丧的市场有所回升。这份清单上的商品包括智能手机、笔记本电脑、视频游戏机和玩具，特朗普表示，这些商品将在圣诞节前让消费者们受益。延期适用于三分之二需缴纳这项特别征税的产品。从9月1日起，将对中国其他商品征收10%的关税。

South Korea removed Japan from its list of trusted trading partners, escalating⁹ a trade dispute between the pair (Japan dropped South Korea’s preferential trading status earlier this month). Trade between the two countries will now have to go through more red tape.

韩国将日本从其值得信赖的贸易伙伴名单中除名，此举加剧了两国之间的贸易争端(本月早些时候，日本取消了韩国的优惠贸易地位)。两国之间的贸易现在将不得不经历更多的繁文缛节。

Saudi Aramco, Saudi Arabia’s state oil company, is to take a 20% stake in the refining and chemicals assets owned by Reliance Industries, an Indian conglomerate¹⁰. The deal, which is still being negotiated, deepens existing ties between the companies and will be one of the biggest foreign investments in India to date.

沙特国有石油公司——沙特阿拉伯国家石油公司将持有印度企业集团信实工业(Reliance Industries)炼油和化工资产20%的股份。该交易仍在谈判中，这将加深两家公司之间的现有关系，并将成为迄今为止印度最大的外国投资之一。

1 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

2 inversion   

n.反向，倒转，倒置

参考例句：

• But sometimes there is an unusual weather condition called a temperature inversion.但有时会有一种被称作“温度逆增”的不平常的天气状态。
• And finally,we made a discussion on the problems in the cooperative inversion.最后，对联合反演中存在的问题进行了讨论。

3 contraction   

n.缩略词，缩写式，害病

参考例句：

• The contraction of this muscle raises the lower arm.肌肉的收缩使前臂抬起。
• The forces of expansion are balanced by forces of contraction.扩张力和收缩力相互平衡。

4 despondent   

adj.失望的，沮丧的，泄气的

参考例句：

• He was up for a time and then，without warning,despondent again.他一度兴高采烈，但忽然又情绪低落下来。
• I feel despondent when my work is rejected.作品被拒后我感到很沮丧。

5 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

6 postpone   

v.延期，推迟

参考例句：

• I shall postpone making a decision till I learn full particulars.在未获悉详情之前我得从缓作出决定。
• She decided to postpone the converastion for that evening.她决定当天晚上把谈话搁一搁。

7 tariff   

n.关税，税率；(旅馆、饭店等)价目表，收费表

参考例句：

• There is a very high tariff on jewelry.宝石类的关税率很高。
• The government is going to lower the tariff on importing cars.政府打算降低进口汽车的关税。

8 levy   

n.征收税或其他款项，征收额

参考例句：

• They levy a tax on him.他们向他征税。
• A direct food levy was imposed by the local government.地方政府征收了食品税。

9 escalating   

v.（使）逐步升级( escalate的现在分词 )；（使）逐步扩大；（使）更高；（使）更大

参考例句：

• The cost of living is escalating. 生活费用在迅速上涨。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The cost of living is escalating in the country. 这个国家的生活费用在上涨。 来自辞典例句

10 conglomerate   

n.综合商社，多元化集团公司

参考例句：

• The firm has been taken over by an American conglomerate.该公司已被美国一企业集团接管。
• An American conglomerate holds a major share in the company.一家美国的大联合企业持有该公司的大部分股份。