2007-12-01, China's View of Wal-Mart: Big Partner 3

Walmart had estimates that they import 15 billion dollars of Chinese goods every year, and maybe a lot more. Evan mentioned a figure of fifteen billion dollars direct and indirect imports, others have given this higher estimates, so well under 20 or 30 billion dollars, is that possible?

I think it could be possible, it could be higher, could be lower. The other thing we have to remember is that we are growing pretty significantly in terms of sales. So next year we could be higher, the year after that alike we could be higher as well.

Walmart is providing a gateway¹ into the American economy for oversea suppliers and China and elsewhere. And it is doing on a scale that has…is unprecedented².

COSCO is a Chinese ship and Japanese ship here. (But they are all carrying Chinese container.) at the other of the pipeline³, I visited the port of the long beach in California. I wanted to see how Washington’s promised as mass of America made exports to China was working out. The port’s communication director E. Smith.

What they are shipping⁴ in, what we shipping back?
Well, we bring in consumer products. We bring in about 36 billion dollars worth of machinery⁵, toys, clothing, food ware⁶.
36 billion right here on long beach?
36 billion come to long beach from China alone. Consumer products.
And what we shipping back?
We shipping out about 3 billion dollars worth of raw materials. We export cotton, we bring in clothing. We export hides, we bring in shoes. We export scrap⁷ metal, we bring back machinery.
So they are doing all. But where we get third world country
We exporting waste paper, containers full of wasted paper, we bring back cardboard boxes with products inside.

Added it all up, the US had a record 120 billion dollar trade deficit⁸ with China last year. And it’s heading even higher in this year.
The myth of the enormously growing China market went up locking the US into a trading partnership⁹ with China, that had to been a benefit to China, much more than that could benefit us. The reason was China would always be able to sell to US much more goods that Americans sell to Chinese, because Americans have the incomes that is needed to buy Chinese products. Chinese consumers overwhelmingly don’t have the incomes needed to buy American products. (The whole idea was wrong!) it was completely wrong.
When you look at the growth of trade deficit with China, you can say that very conservative estimate is that we have a loss more that a million jobs to China since the early 1990s.
I think it’s impossible to say we lost a million jobs to China. Trade policy or trade flows one way or another don’t have an effect on overall employment numbers. They affect kinds of jobs we have, and so some number of jobs have definitely been eliminated because of Chinese competition. Another, elsewhere in the economy, other jobs have been created because of Chinese competition, because American consumers have say it walmart sell Chinese goods, they got more money in their pocket to buy something else, which creates opportunities for those other businesses, which means they hire workers where they would not hire otherwise. The net effect most economists¹⁰ think is awash.
Theoretically the gain from trade all set losses from trade, but nothing says there are more winners than losers, and nothing says that for the bottom three fourths of America that they are net gainers. In fact, I believe that most people have been losers from trade.

1 gateway   

n.大门口，出入口，途径，方法

参考例句：

• Hard work is the gateway to success.努力工作是通往成功之路。
• A man collected tolls at the gateway.一个人在大门口收通行费。

2 unprecedented   

adj.无前例的，新奇的

参考例句：

• The air crash caused an unprecedented number of deaths.这次空难的死亡人数是空前的。
• A flood of this sort is really unprecedented.这样大的洪水真是十年九不遇。

3 pipeline   

n.管道，管线

参考例句：

• The pipeline supplies Jordan with 15 per cent of its crude oil.该管道供给约旦15%的原油。
• A single pipeline serves all the houses with water.一条单管路给所有的房子供水。

4 shipping   

n.船运（发货，运输，乘船）

参考例句：

• We struck a bargain with an American shipping firm.我们和一家美国船运公司谈成了一笔生意。
• There's a shipping charge of ￡5 added to the price.价格之外另加五英镑运输费。

5 machinery   

n.(总称)机械，机器；机构

参考例句：

• Has the machinery been put up ready for the broadcast?广播器材安装完毕了吗？
• Machinery ought to be well maintained all the time.机器应该随时注意维护。

6 ware   

n.(常用复数)商品，货物

参考例句：

• The shop sells a great variety of porcelain ware.这家店铺出售品种繁多的瓷器。
• Good ware will never want a chapman.好货不须叫卖。

7 scrap   

n.碎片；废料；v.废弃，报废

参考例句：

• A man comes round regularly collecting scrap.有个男人定时来收废品。
• Sell that car for scrap.把那辆汽车当残品卖了吧。

8 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。

9 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。

10 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》