美国国家公共电台 NPR--New law takes aim at those who refuse to open up cargo space in U.S. ports

New law takes aim at those who refuse to open up cargo¹ space in U.S. ports

Transcript²

The head of an agriculture lobby and a market analyst³ talk about supply chain relief that U.S. producers and consumers can expect from the recently enacted⁴ Ocean Shipping⁵ Reform Act.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

We are all paying more for everything from toilet paper to cars, in part because of increased shipping costs.

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Rising demand during the pandemic clogged⁶ the supply chain at sea, and the White House says that pushed up some ocean-going shipping costs from Asia to the U.S. by as much as 1,000%.

INSKEEP: Whoa. So Congress passed and President Biden signed the Ocean Shipping Reform Act. Zippy Duvall stood next to the president as he signed it. He heads the American Farm Bureau Federation⁷.

ZIPPY DUVALL: There is price gouging⁸, and that definitely put farmers at a disadvantage because once they got that product there, paying that kind of cost of moving it, then they couldn't be competitive on the market.

MARTIN: Duvall is a third-generation farmer who grows hay and raises cows and chickens in Georgia.

DUVALL: All the things that I have to buy to fertilize⁹ my grasses, to make them grow, to produce forage¹⁰ for my animals, equipment, tractors, labor¹¹ - all that has increased many times. When you put your heart and soul into growing a crop or taking care of animals to be able to put it out to nourish the world, and then there is not enough opportunity to send that crop out to the mouths and people that need it - it's really deteriorating¹² to the morale¹³ of our farmers.

INSKEEP: So the law takes aim at carriers or terminal operators who unreasonably¹⁴ refuse to open up available cargo space. Some ports have been clogged, as we've reported in the past. Market analyst Cathy Roberson says it requires the Federal Maritime¹⁵ Commission to investigate exorbitant¹⁶ late fees on importers and exporters.

CATHY ROBERSON: If a shipper can't pick up a container because there's not a truck driver available - something that's out of their hands - this law is to help protect them from these detention¹⁷ and demerge fees.

MARTIN: Roberson says these fees are often passed on to the buyer. But she says this law may not do what the Biden administration hoped - cut prices for consumers.

ROBERSON: This is all fine and dandy, but there's a lot more involved in supply chains. There's a lot of folks in the federal government that really don't understand how supply chains operate from manufacturing all the way to our front door. This isn't going to help lower inflation whatsoever¹⁸. The Consumer Price Index figures the majority of the increase has been attributed to energy cost.

MARTIN: The Ocean Shipping Reform Act of 2022 is the first revision to maritime legislation in more than 20 years.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

1 cargo   

n.(一只船或一架飞机运载的)货物

参考例句：

• The ship has a cargo of about 200 ton.这条船大约有200吨的货物。
• A lot of people discharged the cargo from a ship.许多人从船上卸下货物。

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

4 enacted   

制定（法律），通过（法案）( enact的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• legislation enacted by parliament 由议会通过的法律
• Outside in the little lobby another scene was begin enacted. 外面的小休息室里又是另一番景象。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

5 shipping   

n.船运（发货，运输，乘船）

参考例句：

• We struck a bargain with an American shipping firm.我们和一家美国船运公司谈成了一笔生意。
• There's a shipping charge of ￡5 added to the price.价格之外另加五英镑运输费。

6 clogged   

（使）阻碍( clog的过去式和过去分词 )； 淤滞

参考例句：

• The narrow streets were clogged with traffic. 狭窄的街道上交通堵塞。
• The intake of gasoline was stopped by a clogged fuel line. 汽油的注入由于管道阻塞而停止了。

7 federation   

n.同盟，联邦，联合，联盟，联合会

参考例句：

• It is a federation of 10 regional unions.它是由十个地方工会结合成的联合会。
• Mr.Putin was inaugurated as the President of the Russian Federation.普京正式就任俄罗斯联邦总统。

8 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

9 fertilize   

v.使受精，施肥于，使肥沃

参考例句：

• Fertilizer is a substance put on land to fertilize it.肥料是施在地里使之肥沃的物质。
• Reading will fertilize his vocabulary.阅读会丰富他的词汇。

10 forage   

n.(牛马的)饲料，粮草；v.搜寻，翻寻

参考例句：

• They were forced to forage for clothing and fuel.他们不得不去寻找衣服和燃料。
• Now the nutritive value of the forage is reduced.此时牧草的营养价值也下降了。

11 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。

12 deteriorating   

恶化，变坏( deteriorate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The weather conditions are deteriorating. 天气变得越来越糟。
• I was well aware of the bad morale and the deteriorating factories. 我很清楚，大家情绪低落，各个工厂越搞越坏。

13 morale   

n.道德准则，士气，斗志

参考例句：

• The morale of the enemy troops is sinking lower every day.敌军的士气日益低落。
• He tried to bolster up their morale.他尽力鼓舞他们的士气。

14 unreasonably   

adv. 不合理地

参考例句：

• He was also petty, unreasonably querulous, and mean. 他还是个气量狭窄，无事生非，平庸刻薄的人。
• Food in that restaurant is unreasonably priced. 那家饭店价格不公道。

15 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。

16 exorbitant   

adj.过分的；过度的

参考例句：

• More competition should help to drive down exorbitant phone charges.更多的竞争有助于降低目前畸高的电话收费。
• The price of food here is exorbitant. 这儿的食物价格太高。

17 detention   

n.滞留，停留；拘留，扣留；(教育)留下

参考例句：

• He was kept in detention by the police.他被警察扣留了。
• He was in detention in connection with the bribery affair.他因与贿赂事件有牵连而被拘留了。

18 whatsoever   

adv.（用于否定句中以加强语气）任何；pron.无论什么

参考例句：

• There's no reason whatsoever to turn down this suggestion.没有任何理由拒绝这个建议。
• All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you,do ye even so to them.你想别人对你怎样，你就怎样对人。