2019年经济学人 一周要闻 中美谈判大门仍敞开 美国打压华为 旧金山禁人脸识别技术

 

The world this week

本周要闻

Business

商业

China said it would increase tariffs¹ on a range of American goods. This was in retaliation² for Donald Trump³’s decision to raise duties on $200bn-worth of Chinese exports following the breakdown⁴ of talks that had tried to end the two countries’ stand-off over trade. In addition, American officials said they were seeking to extend levies⁵ to all remaining Chinese imports to the United States. Both sides are holding off on imposing⁶ their punishing tariffs for a few weeks, giving negotiators more time to try to end the impasse⁷. Even if there is a deal, it is unlikely to reduce tensions between the two powers over trade, and other matters.

中国表示，将提高一系列美国商品的关税。这是对特朗普决定提高价值2000亿美元的中国出口产品的关税的反击。此前，旨在结束两国贸易僵局的谈判破裂。此外，美国官员表示，他们正寻求将征税范围扩大到所有剩下的中国输美产品。双方都将实施惩罚性关税推迟了几周，这给谈判代表更多时间来试图结束僵局。即使达成协议，也不太可能缓解两国在贸易和其他问题上的紧张关系。

The transfer of technology is another contentious⁸ issue for China and America. A few days after the collapse⁹ of the trade talks, Mr Trump and the Commerce Department signed orders blocking Huawei, a Chinese tech giant, from involvement with American mobile networks and suppliers. America has pressed its allies to shun¹⁰ the firm, citing security worries, but has had only limited success.

对中国和美国来说，技术转让是另一项有争议的问题。贸易谈判破裂几天后，特朗普与美国商务部签署命令，禁止中国科技巨头华为与美国移动网络和供应商合作。美国以安全担忧为由，敦促其盟友不要与华为合作，但收效甚微。

The Chinese economy may be slowing more than had been thought, according to new data. China’s retail¹¹ sales grew at their slowest rate in 16 years in April. Industrial production expanded by 5.4%, the slowest rate in a decade.

最新数据显示，中国经济增速放缓幅度或超过此前预期。今年4月，中国零售额增速降至16年来最低水平。工业生产增长5.4%，为十年来最低。

Germany’s economy grew by 0.4% in the first three months of the year compared with the previous quarter. That brought some relief for the government following a six-month period when the country almost slipped into recession. Officials warned that global trade rows could still knock the economy off course. In Britain, GDP rose by 0.5% in the first quarter, helped by businesses stockpiling goods ahead of the now-missed Brexit deadline of March 29th.

今年前三个月，德国经济同比增长0.4%。这让政府稍觉宽慰，此前的6个月该国几乎陷入衰退。官员们警告称，全球贸易争端仍可能导致经济偏离轨道。在英国，由于企业赶在3月29日英国脱欧最后期限前囤积货物，第一季度GDP增长0.5%。

Bayer lost a third court case in America brought by plaintiffs claiming that a weedkiller made by Monsanto, which Bayer took over last year, caused their cancer. This time the jury ordered the German conglomerate¹² to pay $2bn in damages to an elderly couple, a sum far greater than that awarded to the plaintiffs in two previous trials. Bayer’s share price plunged¹³.

拜耳在美国的第三起诉讼中败诉，原告声称，拜耳去年接手的孟山都公司生产的除草剂是他们患癌的罪魁祸首。这一次，陪审团命令这家德国企业集团向一对老年夫妇支付20亿美元的赔偿金，这一金额远高于此前两次审判中原告获得的赔偿金。拜耳的股价应声暴跌。

Officials in San Francisco voted to make it the first American city to ban the use of facial- recognition software by the local government. Legislators worry that the technology, which is spreading rapidly, is unreliable and open to abuse.

旧金山的官员投票决定，该市将成为美国首个禁止地方政府使用面部识别软件的城市。立法者们担心这项正在迅速传播的技术是不可靠的，并且易被滥用。

1 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。

2 retaliation   

n.报复，反击

参考例句：

• retaliation against UN workers 对联合国工作人员的报复
• He never said a single word in retaliation. 他从未说过一句反击的话。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 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。

4 breakdown   

n.垮，衰竭；损坏，故障，倒塌

参考例句：

• She suffered a nervous breakdown.她患神经衰弱。
• The plane had a breakdown in the air,but it was fortunately removed by the ace pilot.飞机在空中发生了故障，但幸运的是被王牌驾驶员排除了。

5 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。

6 imposing   

adj.使人难忘的，壮丽的，堂皇的，雄伟的

参考例句：

• The fortress is an imposing building.这座城堡是一座宏伟的建筑。
• He has lost his imposing appearance.他已失去堂堂仪表。

7 impasse   

n.僵局；死路

参考例句：

• The government had reached an impasse.政府陷入绝境。
• Negotiations seemed to have reached an impasse.谈判似乎已经陷入僵局。

8 contentious   

adj.好辩的，善争吵的

参考例句：

• She was really not of the contentious fighting sort.她委实不是好吵好闹的人。
• Since then they have tended to steer clear of contentious issues.从那时起，他们总想方设法避开有争议的问题。

9 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

10 shun   

vt.避开，回避，避免

参考例句：

• Materialists face truth,whereas idealists shun it.唯物主义者面向真理，唯心主义者则逃避真理。
• This extremist organization has shunned conventional politics.这个极端主义组织有意避开了传统政治。

11 retail   

v./n.零售；adv.以零售价格

参考例句：

• In this shop they retail tobacco and sweets.这家铺子零售香烟和糖果。
• These shoes retail at 10 yuan a pair.这些鞋子零卖10元一双。

12 conglomerate   

n.综合商社，多元化集团公司

参考例句：

• The firm has been taken over by an American conglomerate.该公司已被美国一企业集团接管。
• An American conglomerate holds a major share in the company.一家美国的大联合企业持有该公司的大部分股份。

13 plunged   

v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降

参考例句：

• The train derailed and plunged into the river. 火车脱轨栽进了河里。
• She lost her balance and plunged 100 feet to her death. 她没有站稳，从100英尺的高处跌下摔死了。