2018年CRI Trade war would benefit no one: China Development Forum delegates

 

Foreign delegates to the annual China Development Forum¹ have agreed that a trade war would benefit no one, and that it would be harmful to both countries and the world economy more broadly.

At the Economic Summit of the 2018 China Development Forum, the trade disputes between the United States and China were a major talking point.

The summit comes as U.S. President Donald Trump² signed a memorandum³ that could impose up to 60 billion US dollars in tariffs⁴ on goods imported from China.

Michael Spence is a professor at New York University, and the recipient⁵ of the 2001 Nobel Prize in Economics. He warns that a full blown trade war between China and the United States would destabilize the world economy.

"If we look back at the past two years, the market has shrugged⁶ off Brexit. Populous⁷ politics and a bunch of countries and an unusual number of extreme climate events; security breaches⁸ and digital technology problems are all over the place. It's gonna take a fairly large amount to take the market off. In the context, there are reasonable global escalations in growth as IMF said. But a fully⁹ blown trade war will do it."

The Trump administration has long complained about China's trade surplus with the United States which grew by 13 percent year-on-year to reach around 300 billion US dollars last year.

Nicholas Stern, a professor at the London School of Economics, says the trade imbalance between the two countries is due to the actions of the United States.

"I hope it calms down. And I hope the United States see the measures are mistaken. They have a deficit¹⁰ because they spend more than their income. They don't save enough. It's to do with their own economic behavior not to do with the particular relationships with other countries. So it's bad policy based on misdiagnosis. We must hope the current US government cease soon, otherwise it would be damaging for us all."

China has long insisted that economic and trade frictions¹¹ should be settled through negotiations¹² rather than conflict and called on the United States not to put bilateral¹³ trade relations in jeopardy¹⁴.

Former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd believes that the two sides will eventually sit down and resolve their differences.

"When I looked at the list of measures President Trump has put out to be applied¹⁵ to China, and when I looked at the counter measures from China against the United States, neither of these two lists go to core, fundamental trade and economic interests of either side. I take this as a symbol or signal, which is beneath a surface; both sides are still trying to work this out. That I think is semi agreed bilateral political management routine that's been adopted."

President Trump has been pushing for the introduction of protectionist trade policies since before he was elected.

At the forum, Apple CEO Tim Cook spoke¹⁶ about the value of openness when it comes to trade.

"Countries that embrace openness, that embrace trade, that embrace diversity are the countries that do exceptional. Countries that don't don't. My belief is that one plus one equals three, is that the pie if you get larger working together, it's not just the matter of carving¹⁷ it between sides."

The China Development Forum first began in 2000.

It takes place each year following China's Lianghui, or the two sessions of the country's top legislature and top political advisory¹⁸ body.

1 forum   

n.论坛，讨论会

参考例句：

• They're holding a forum on new ways of teaching history.他们正在举行历史教学讨论会。
• The organisation would provide a forum where problems could be discussed.这个组织将提供一个可以讨论问题的平台。

2 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。

3 memorandum   

n.备忘录，便笺

参考例句：

• The memorandum was dated 23 August,2008.备忘录上注明的日期是2008年8月23日。
• The Secretary notes down the date of the meeting in her memorandum book.秘书把会议日期都写在记事本上。

4 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。

5 recipient   

a.接受的,感受性强的 n.接受者,感受者,容器

参考例句：

• Please check that you have a valid email certificate for each recipient. 请检查是否对每个接收者都有有效的电子邮件证书。
• Colombia is the biggest U . S aid recipient in Latin America. 哥伦比亚是美国在拉丁美洲最大的援助对象。

6 shrugged   

vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• Sam shrugged and said nothing. 萨姆耸耸肩膀，什么也没说。
• She shrugged, feigning nonchalance. 她耸耸肩，装出一副无所谓的样子。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 populous   

adj.人口稠密的，人口众多的

参考例句：

• London is the most populous area of Britain.伦敦是英国人口最稠密的地区。
• China is the most populous developing country in the world.中国是世界上人口最多的发展中国家。

8 breaches   

破坏( breach的名词复数 )； 破裂； 缺口； 违背

参考例句：

• He imposed heavy penalties for breaches of oath or pledges. 他对违反誓言和保证的行为给予严厉的惩罚。
• This renders all breaches of morality before marriage very uncommon. 这样一来，婚前败坏道德的事就少见了。

9 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

10 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。

11 frictions   

n.摩擦( friction的名词复数 )；摩擦力；冲突；不和

参考例句：

• Family frictions can interfere with a child's schoolwork. 家庭中的争吵会影响孩子的学业。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• As far as we are concerned, these frictions are not of our own making [have been imposed on us]. 就我们来说，这种摩擦是被动式的。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

12 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。

13 bilateral   

adj.双方的，两边的，两侧的

参考例句：

• They have been negotiating a bilateral trade deal.他们一直在商谈一项双边贸易协定。
• There was a wide gap between the views of the two statesmen on the bilateral cooperation.对双方合作的问题，两位政治家各自所持的看法差距甚大。

14 jeopardy   

n.危险；危难

参考例句：

• His foolish behaviour may put his whole future in jeopardy.他愚蠢的行为可能毁了他一生的前程。
• It is precisely at this juncture that the boss finds himself in double jeopardy.恰恰在这个关键时刻，上司发现自己处于进退两难的境地。

15 applied   

adj.应用的；v.应用，适用

参考例句：

• She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
• This cream is best applied to the face at night.这种乳霜最好晚上擦脸用。

16 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

17 carving   

n.雕刻品，雕花

参考例句：

• All the furniture in the room had much carving.房间里所有的家具上都有许多雕刻。
• He acquired the craft of wood carving in his native town.他在老家学会了木雕手艺。

18 advisory   

adj.劝告的，忠告的，顾问的，提供咨询

参考例句：

• I have worked in an advisory capacity with many hospitals.我曾在多家医院做过顾问工作。
• He was appointed to the advisory committee last month.他上个月获任命为顾问委员会委员。