美国国家公共电台 NPR Trump's Draft Proposal Makes Tweaks To NAFTA

 

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President Trump¹ may take a less extreme approach to rewriting NAFTA than his fiery² campaign rhetoric³ suggested. A Trump administration document is circulating on Capitol Hill, and it suggests the White House wants the trade agreement between the U.S., Canada and Mexico to change in ways that both Republicans and Democrats⁴ can support. There are still some controversial provisions that could blow up the negotiations⁶, though, as NPR's John Ydstie reports.

JOHN YDSTIE, BYLINE⁷: During the presidential campaign, Donald Trump repeatedly railed against what he termed the disaster called NAFTA.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: NAFTA was the worst trade deal in the history - it's, like, the history of this country.

YDSTIE: Trump alternatively threatened to rip up, renegotiate or pull out of the 23-year-old deal that has dramatically boosted trade in North America. Trump's threats have raised concerns among lots of U.S. businesses, from farmers to carmakers, but a letter sent by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative to members of Congress and obtained by NPR suggests a more measured approach by the Trump administration. Jeffrey Schott, a trade expert at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, has reviewed the document.

JEFFREY SCHOTT: This letter provides the basis for a substantive⁸ and constructive⁹ and successful negotiation⁵ with Mexico and Canada.

YDSTIE: All of the parties to the treaty agree it needs some changes. Schott says that 80 percent of the draft letter being circulated by the administration is in line with the mainstream¹⁰ approach to trade deals. Even some prominent Trump supporters think that's a good thing. Steve Moore was an economic adviser¹¹ to the Trump campaign and is a fellow at the conservative Heritage Foundation.

STEPHEN MOORE: So I think this is a good new development that instead of just ripping it up and starting over, there will be some tweaks to it because NAFTA has been good for Mexico, and I think in the long run, it's been actually pretty good for America and Canada as well.

YDSTIE: But Jeffrey Schott cautions there are potential land mines in the administration's plan for negotiations. They include a simple nine-word objective to, quote, "seek to level the playing field on tax treatment." Schott says that's a placeholder possibly for the border adjustment tax that House leaders and some White House officials support. It would levy¹² a 20 percent tax on all imports coming into the United States.

SCHOTT: That could poison those talks and disrupt and perhaps blow up the negotiations.

YDSTIE: Schott says one other administration objective that could be disruptive is an item on government procurement¹³. The Trump administration wants to favor U.S. businesses in providing goods and services to the U.S. government. Schott says if the U.S. did that, Canada and Mexico would likely follow suit, and U.S. companies selling to those governments would lose business. John Ydstie, NPR News, Washington.

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 fiery   

adj.燃烧着的，火红的；暴躁的；激烈的

参考例句：

• She has fiery red hair.她有一头火红的头发。
• His fiery speech agitated the crowd.他热情洋溢的讲话激动了群众。

3 rhetoric   

n.修辞学，浮夸之言语

参考例句：

• Do you know something about rhetoric?你懂点修辞学吗？
• Behind all the rhetoric,his relations with the army are dangerously poised.在冠冕堂皇的言辞背后，他和军队的关系岌岌可危。

4 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 negotiation   

n.谈判，协商

参考例句：

• They closed the deal in sugar after a week of negotiation.经过一星期的谈判，他们的食糖生意成交了。
• The negotiation dragged on until July.谈判一直拖到7月份。

6 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

7 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

8 substantive   

adj.表示实在的；本质的、实质性的；独立的；n.实词，实名词；独立存在的实体

参考例句：

• They plan to meet again in Rome very soon to begin substantive negotiations.他们计划不久在罗马再次会晤以开始实质性的谈判。
• A president needs substantive advice,but he also requires emotional succor. 一个总统需要实质性的建议，但也需要感情上的支持。

9 constructive   

adj.建设的，建设性的

参考例句：

• We welcome constructive criticism.我们乐意接受有建设性的批评。
• He is beginning to deal with his anger in a constructive way.他开始用建设性的方法处理自己的怒气。

10 mainstream   

n.（思想或行为的）主流；adj.主流的

参考例句：

• Their views lie outside the mainstream of current medical opinion.他们的观点不属于当今医学界观点的主流。
• Polls are still largely reflects the mainstream sentiment.民调还在很大程度上反映了社会主流情绪。

11 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。

12 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。

13 procurement   

n.采购；获得

参考例句：

• He is in charge of the procurement of materials.他负责物资的采购。
• More and more,human food procurement came to have a dominant effect on their evolution.人类获取食物愈来愈显著地影响到人类的进化。