2019年经济学人 美国贸易政策(1)

 

"You would need a magic wand to bring back manufacturing jobs," said President Donald Trump¹ on November 12th,

11月12日，唐纳德·特朗普总统引用前政府官员的话表示，

quoting someone from a past administration. "Well, we brought them back."

“你需要一根魔杖才能把制造业的工作岗位带回来”。“我们把它们带回来了。”

The world's carmakers could be forgiven for wishing he had not bothered.

如果世界汽车制造商希望他没有掺和，那他们是可以被原谅的。

They have been thwacked with tariffs³ on steel, aluminium⁴ and components⁵ from China,

他们受到了来自中国的钢铁、铝和零部件关税的打击，

and threatened with broader levies⁶ on cars and car parts in the name of national security.

还被威胁以国家安全的名义对汽车和汽车零部件征收更多的税。

A tariff² deadline was looming⁷ as The Economist⁸ went to press.

在本期《经济学人》付印时，关税的最后期限即将到来。

And they have new rules of the road, in the form of the USMCA, a trade deal with Mexico and Canada.

他们还制定了新的规则，比如与墨西哥和加拿大签订的《美墨加三国协议》（简称USMCA）。

there is little sign so far that foreign carmakers are leading an American investment boom.

至今几乎没有迹象表明外国汽车制造商正在引领美国的投资热潮。

According to Kristin Dziczek of the Centre for Automotive Research, their investments in American facilities have been fairly steady since the recession.

据汽车研究中心的Kristin Dziczek称，自经济衰退以来，他们在美国工厂的投资一直相对稳定。

Meanwhile the value of American imports of passenger vehicles and light trucks continues to grow,

与此同时，美国乘用车和轻型卡车的进口值继续增长，

by 6% in the first three quarters of 2019 compared with a year earlier.

2019年前三季度同比增长6%。

Though European car executives were hauled in for a meeting with Mr Trump last December to discuss their American production plans,

虽然欧洲汽车高管们在去年12月被拉来和特朗普开会讨论他们的美国产品计划，

the value of imported vehicles from the European Union rose over the same period by 2%.

但同期，从欧盟进口的汽车价值增长了2%。

The trade data may be distorted by stockpiling: in its third-quarter earnings⁹ call Volkswagen, a big European carmaker,

贸易数据可能会因囤积而失真：在其第三季度财报电话会议上，欧洲大型汽车制造商大众，

mentioned this as a defence against threatened tariffs. And Ms Dziczek cautions that trade policies are just one of many considerations

提到这是为了防御关税威胁。Dziczek警告称，当公司要决定在哪里建新工厂时，

when companies are deciding where to locate new plants. American demand for cars is sagging¹⁰,

贸易政策只是众多考虑因素之一。美国对汽车的需求正在下降，

and production is shifting from saloon cars to other larger vehicles such as SUVS, as well as electric cars.

并且汽车的生产正从轿车转向其它大型车辆，如SUV和电动汽车。

Behind the scenes, however, car companies are planning to rework their supply chains to meet the USMCA's stricter content requirements.

但汽车公司背地里正在计划重新设计他们的供应链以满足USMCA更加严格的要求。

Ann Wilson of the Motor and Equipment Manufacturers' Association, an industry group,

产业组织电机和设备制造商协会的安·威尔逊表示

says members are drawing up plans to manufacture more in America.

其成员们正在为在美国生产更多产品制定计划。

"You will see structural¹¹ changes," says Dietmar Ostermann, who works with car companies at PWC, an accountancy.

“你将看到结构性的改变，”普华永道会计公司处理汽车公司业务的Dietmar Ostermann说到。

1 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。

2 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。

3 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。

4 aluminium   

n.铝 (=aluminum)

参考例句：

• Aluminium looks heavy but actually it is very light.铝看起来很重，实际上却很轻。
• If necessary, we can use aluminium instead of steel.如果必要，我们可用铝代钢。

5 components   

（机器、设备等的）构成要素，零件，成分； 成分( component的名词复数 )； [物理化学]组分； [数学]分量； （混合物的）组成部分

参考例句：

• the components of a machine 机器部件
• Our chemistry teacher often reduces a compound to its components in lab. 在实验室中化学老师常把化合物分解为各种成分。

6 levies   

（部队）征兵( levy的名词复数 )； 募捐； 被征募的军队

参考例句：

• At that time, taxes and levies were as many as the hairs on an ox. 那时，苛捐杂税多如牛毛。
• Variable levies can insulate farmers and consumers from world markets. 差价进口税可以把农民和消费者与世界市场隔离开来。

7 looming   

n.上现蜃景（光通过低层大气发生异常折射形成的一种海市蜃楼）v.隐约出现，阴森地逼近( loom的现在分词 )；隐约出现，阴森地逼近

参考例句：

• The foothills were looming ahead through the haze. 丘陵地带透过薄雾朦胧地出现在眼前。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Then they looked up. Looming above them was Mount Proteome. 接着他们往上看，在其上隐约看到的是蛋白质组山。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 回顾与展望

8 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。

9 earnings   

n.工资收人；利润，利益，所得

参考例句：

• That old man lives on the earnings of his daughter.那个老人靠他女儿的收入维持生活。
• Last year there was a 20% decrease in his earnings.去年他的收入减少了20%。

10 sagging   

下垂[沉，陷]，松垂，垂度

参考例句：

• The morale of the enemy troops is continuously sagging. 敌军的士气不断低落。
• We are sagging south. 我们的船正离开航线向南漂流。

11 structural   

adj.构造的，组织的，建筑（用）的

参考例句：

• The storm caused no structural damage.风暴没有造成建筑结构方面的破坏。
• The North American continent is made up of three great structural entities.北美大陆是由三个构造单元组成的。