VOA慢速英语2018 美国贸易逆差创下五个月新高

US Trade Deficit¹ Reaches Five Month High

The United States’ trade deficit with other countries rose to a five-month high in July.

7月份美国同其它国家的贸易逆差升值五个月高位。

At the same time, the U.S. trade deficit with China hit a record high.

与此同时，美国同中国贸易逆差创下历史新高。

Economists³ say the latest numbers could influence the Trump⁴ administration to carry out its "America First" trade policies more aggressively.

经济学家表示，最新数据可能会导致川普政府更积极地实施其“美国优先”的贸易政策。

The administration's protectionist policies have left the United States in disputes with the European Union, Canada, Mexico and China. President Donald Trump says the United States is being used by its trading partners.

美国政府的贸易保护主义政策使得美国同欧盟、加拿大、墨西哥以及中国发生冲突。川普总统表示，美国正被其它贸易伙伴利用。

The U.S. Commerce Department reported the rise in the trade deficit Wednesday. Its report came a day before the end of a public comment period about a list of $200 billion worth of Chinese goods. The U.S. government is expected to announce tariffs⁶ on those products.

美国商务部周三报告称贸易逆差上升。这份报告是在一项关于价值2000亿美元中国商品清单的公众意见征询期结束前一天发布的。预计美国政府将宣布对这些产品加征关税。

"America still isn't getting a fair deal on trade and that can only mean one thing," said Chris Rupkey, chief economist² at the MUFG financial group in New York.

三菱日联金融集团驻纽约首席经济学家克里斯·鲁普契（Chris Rupkey）表示：“美国仍然没有达成公平贸易的协议，这只能意味着一种结果。”

"President Trump is going unleash⁷ another $200 billion in tariffs on China imports," he said.

他说：“川普总统将会对另外价值2000亿美元的中国商品征收关税。”

The Commerce Department report said the trade deficit increased 9.5 percent to $50.1 billion in July. This happened as exports of soybeans and civilian⁸ aircraft dropped, while imports hit a record high. The trade deficit has now widened in each of the past two months.

美国商务部报告称，7月份贸易逆差增加9.5%至501亿美元。这是因为大豆和民用飞机出口的下降，而进口则创下历史新高。过去两个月的贸易逆差都在扩大。

The government announced import duties on goods including steel, aluminum⁹, washing machines and solar panels earlier this year. It said the move was to protect American industries from what Trump says is unfair foreign competition.

美国政府今年早些时候宣布对钢铁、铝、洗衣机和太阳能电池板等商品征收进口关税。美国政府称此举旨在保护美国工业不受川普所说的不公平的外国竞争的影响。

The United States and China each have put retaliatory¹⁰ tariffs on a combined $100 billion worth of products since early July.

自7月初以来，美国和中国各自对价值1000亿美元的产品征收了报复性关税。

The Trump administration also wants to rework the North American Free Trade Agreement. The United States struck a deal with Mexico last week, but negotiations¹¹ with Canada have been difficult.

川普政府还希望重新制定北美自由贸易协定。美国上周和墨西哥达成协议，但是和加拿大的谈判陷入僵局。

The administration says ending the trade deficit will put the economy on a path of faster growth. But economists say some of the government's policies, such as a $1.5 trillion tax cut earlier this year, will worsen the trade deficit.

美国政府表示，消除贸易逆差将会使经济走上更快增长的道路。但是经济学家表示，政府的一些政策，例如今年早些时候减税1.5万亿美元，将会使贸易逆差更为严重。

The trade deficit narrowed in April and May as farmers increased soybean exports to China before its tariffs on American products came into effect in early July.

由于农民在7月初对美国产品关税生效之前增加了对中国的大豆出口，4月和5月的贸易逆差有所收窄。

Record high imports

创历史新高

After considering inflation, the trade deficit increased to a five-month high of $82.5 billion in July from $79.3 billion in June.

考虑通货膨胀因素之后，7月份的贸易逆差从6月份的793亿美元升至825亿美元的五个月新高。

The goods trade deficit with China grew 10 percent to a record $36.8 billion in July. The trade gap with Mexico dropped 25.3 percent to $5.5 billion while the gap with Canada rose 57.6 percent to $3.1 billion. The trade deficit with the European Union rose 50 percent to a record high of $17.6 billion.

美国与中国的商品贸易逆差在7月份增长了10%，达到创纪录的368亿美元；与墨西哥的贸易逆差下降25.3%至55亿美元；与加拿大的逆差上升57.6%至31亿美元；与欧盟的贸易逆差增长50%，达到创纪录的176亿美元。

In July, U.S. exports of goods and services fell one percent to $211.1 billion. However, imports of goods and services increased 0.9 percent to a record $261.2 billion. They were helped by imports of computers and computer parts. Total imports were higher, in part, thanks to petroleum¹² imports, which were the highest since December 2014 because of higher oil prices.

7月份，美国商品和服务出口下降1%至2111美元。然而，商品和服务进口增长了0.9%，达到创纪录的2612美元，这些都受益于计算机和计算机零件的进口。总进口量较高的部分原因是由于石油价格上涨，石油进口量创下2014年12月以来新高。

Words in This Story

duty –n. a tax on goods being brought into a country

petroleum –n. oil that comes from below the ground

retaliatory –adj. to do something bad to someone in return for mistreatment

tariff⁵ –n. a tax on goods coming into or going out of a country

1 deficit   

n.亏空，亏损；赤字，逆差

参考例句：

• The directors have reported a deficit of 2.5 million dollars.董事们报告赤字为250万美元。
• We have a great deficit this year.我们今年有很大亏损。

2 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。

3 economists   

n.经济学家，经济专家( economist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The sudden rise in share prices has confounded economists. 股价的突然上涨使经济学家大惑不解。
• Foreign bankers and economists cautiously welcomed the minister's initiative. 外国银行家和经济学家对部长的倡议反应谨慎。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 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。

5 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。

6 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。

7 unleash   

vt.发泄，发出；解带子放开

参考例句：

• They hope to create allies to unleash against diseases,pests,and invasive species.他们希望创造出一些新群体来对付疾病、害虫和一些有侵害性的物种。
• Changing water levels now at times unleash a miasma of disease from exposed sewage.如今，大坝不时地改变水位，从暴露的污水释放出了疾病瘴气。

8 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

9 aluminum   

n.(aluminium)铝

参考例句：

• The aluminum sheets cannot be too much thicker than 0.04 inches.铝板厚度不能超过0.04英寸。
• During the launch phase,it would ride in a protective aluminum shell.在发射阶段，它盛在一只保护的铝壳里。

10 retaliatory   

adj.报复的

参考例句：

• The process can take years before the WTO approves retaliatory action. 在WTO通过此行动之前，这个程序恐怕要等上一阵子了。 来自互联网
• Retaliatory tariffs on China are tantamount to taxing ourselves as a punishment. 将惩罚性关税强加于中国相当于对我们自己实施课税惩罚。 来自互联网

11 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。

12 petroleum   

n.原油，石油

参考例句：

• The Government of Iran advanced the price of petroleum last week.上星期伊朗政府提高了石油价格。
• The purpose of oil refinery is to refine crude petroleum.炼油厂的主要工作是提炼原油。