2019年经济学人 中美贸易:根深蒂固 (2)

 

The Americans argue that such tough enforcement mechanisms¹ are needed, given China's history of failing to keep its promises.

美国认为鉴于中国不守承诺的历史，这种强硬的执行机制是需要的。

They think that only by offering tariff² reductions for good behaviour, and threatening new tariffs³ for backsliding,

他们认为只有通过为良好品行提供关税减低并对毁约威胁实施新关税

can they ensure that the Chinese keep their side of the bargain. But the Americans may have to give some ground, since the Chinese also have grounds for mistrust.

才能确保中国遵守他们的承诺。但是美国人可能需要做出一些让步，因为中国也有理由不信任美国。

One of the reasons Mexican and Canadians agreed to rewrite their trade deal with America last year

去年墨西哥和加拿大同意重写和美国贸易协议的原因之一是

was the prospect⁴ of tariffs on steel and aluminium⁵ thereby⁶ being lifted. Months later, those tariffs are still in place.

希望能以此解除钢铁和铝的关税。数月后，这些关税仍未解除。

Business lobbyists in Washington seem resigned to tariffs being phased out only gradually as agreed-upon milestones⁷ are passed.

华盛顿商业说客似乎顺从于只是随着商定里程碑的通过而逐步解除的关税。

Recent evidence on the effects of the Trump⁸ administration's tariffs imposed in 2018 suggests that Americans will pay the price.

针对2018年特朗普政府实施关税影响的近期证据表明美国将会付出代价。

A study by Mary Amiti of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Stephen Redding of Princeton University

纽约联邦储备银行的Mary Amiti，普林斯顿大学的Stephen Redding

and David Weinstein of Columbia University found that American importers were swallowing the cost of tariffs by paying higher prices,

以及哥伦比亚大学的David Weinstein的一项研究发现美国进口商正在通过支付更高的价格承担关税成本，

and that they were responding by importing a narrower range of products.

并且通过进口更少种类的产品应对这一问题。

Another study, by Pablo Fajgelbaum and Amit Khandelwal of the National Bureau of Economic Research,

国民经济调查局的Pablo Fajgelbaum和Amit Khandelwal

Pinelopi Goldberg of the World Bank and Patrick Kennedy of the University of California, Berkeley,

世界银行的Pinelopi Goldberg以及伯克利加利福尼亚大学的Patrick Kennedy的另一项研究

found that although some American producers gained from weaker competition from imports,

发现虽然一些美国生产商从进口的较弱竞争中获益，

that was outweighed⁹ by losses to consumers and other producers, who had to pay more for inputs¹⁰.

但消费者和其他需要为投入花费更多钱的生产商的流失抵消了这一优势。

It seems unlikely that the Trump administration will be swayed by this evidence of collateral¹¹ damage.

特朗普政府似乎不可能为附带损害的证据所动摇。

Indeed, it may see buyers' struggles to adjust to tariffs as evidence that they were too dependent on Chinese exports in the first place.

确实，特朗普政府可能将买家调整关税的努力看做是他们过于依赖中国出口的证据。

Although a deal may see an easing of the tariff regime, from the administration's perspective it has been too successful to abandon altogether.

虽然一份协议可以缓和关税制度，从政府角度来看，关税实施太成功了，所以不能完全放弃。

Americans had better get used to higher prices.

美国人最好适应更高的价格。

1 mechanisms   

n.机械( mechanism的名词复数 )；机械装置；[生物学] 机制；机械作用

参考例句：

• The research will provide direct insight into molecular mechanisms. 这项研究将使人能够直接地了解分子的机理。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He explained how the two mechanisms worked. 他解释这两台机械装置是如何工作的。 来自《简明英汉词典》

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 prospect   

n.前景，前途；景色，视野

参考例句：

• This state of things holds out a cheerful prospect.事态呈现出可喜的前景。
• The prospect became more evident.前景变得更加明朗了。

5 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。

6 thereby   

adv.因此，从而

参考例句：

• I have never been to that city,,ereby I don't know much about it.我从未去过那座城市，因此对它不怎么熟悉。
• He became a British citizen,thereby gaining the right to vote.他成了英国公民，因而得到了投票权。

7 milestones   

n.重要事件( milestone的名词复数 )；重要阶段；转折点；里程碑

参考例句：

• Several important milestones in foreign policy have been passed by this Congress and they can be chalked up as major accomplishments. 这次代表大会通过了对外政策中几起划时代的事件，并且它们可作为主要成就记录下来。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Dale: I really envy your milestones over the last few years, Don. 我真的很羡慕你在过去几年中所建立的丰功伟绩。 来自互联网

8 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。

9 outweighed   

v.在重量上超过( outweigh的过去式和过去分词 )；在重要性或价值方面超过

参考例句：

• This boxer outweighed by his opponent 20 pounds. 这个拳击选手体重比他的对手重20磅。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She outweighed me by ten pounds, and sometimes she knocked me down. 她的体重超过我十磅，有时竟把我撞倒。 来自百科语句

10 inputs   

n.输入( input的名词复数 )；投入；输入端；输入的数据v.把…输入电脑( input的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Uncheck the inputs checked for optimization in the previous stage. 不测试那些已经测试过的优化了的以前步骤的inputs.（变量参数）。 来自互联网
• Just in case, save in a file the inputs obtained at the previous stage. 以防万一，保存以前步骤获得的inputs（变量参数值）到一个文件中去。 来自互联网

11 collateral   

adj.平行的；旁系的；n.担保品

参考例句：

• Many people use personal assets as collateral for small business loans.很多人把个人财产用作小额商业贷款的抵押品。
• Most people here cannot borrow from banks because they lack collateral.由于拿不出东西作为抵押，这里大部分人无法从银行贷款。