美国有线新闻 CNN 美国最高法院考虑电商征收销售税 日本首相安倍晋三到访特朗普私人庄园

 

Today's show starts with a pair of significant cases in front of the U.S. Supreme¹ Court.

The first involves part of a federal law that concerned immigrants to the U.S. It said that people who came to the country legally but who were not American citizens could be deported³ if they've been convicted of crimes of violence. Both the Obama and Trump⁴ administrations supported the law when it came to a legal immigrant from the Philippines who was convicted twice of home burglary in California.

At first, a lower court ruled that his convictions amounted to a crime of violence. But the man's lawyers appealed the decision, arguing their client wasn't given notice that his crimes would result in deportation⁵, and that the "crimes of violence" part of the law wasn't clear enough.

In a 5-4 ruling, the Supreme Court decided⁶ the law was too vague to be constitutional because Congress didn't define what exactly would qualify as a violent crime. So, in this case, the immigrant from the Philippines won't be automatically deported.

The ruling is limited though. Experts say the government can still deport² legal immigrants convicted of obvious violent crimes like murder.

The second case involves sales tax in the Internet. Oftentimes, when you buy something online in the U.S., you don't have to pay sales tax, unless you're buying from Amazon itself, which charges it in most states, or if you're shopping at a retail⁷ company that has a physical store in your state.

South Dakota wants this changed. It says states are mi?ssing out on billions of dollars in e-commerce taxes when people don't pay them online, and it wants companies that sell more than $100,000 worth of goods in a year to collect taxes for South Dakota.

But many smaller businesses like ones that sell on eBay don't want to be forced to collect taxes. They say they'll lose thousands if they have to charge sales tax and that the different taxes that states and cities have are too complicated to keep up with. The Supreme Court's decision on this is expected to come at around the beginning of summer.

AZUZ: Right now, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is visiting U.S. President Donald Trump at his estate in Florida. The two leaders will be talking about North Korea.

Japan is a close ally of the U.S. and Prime Minister Abe is concerned about the direct talks that are planned between President Trump and North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un. Japan's worried that its interests and safety could be left out.

Another concern on Mr. Abe's mind, the new tariffs⁸ that the Trump administration has placed on steel and aluminum⁹ imports from other countries. Japan wants an exemption¹⁰ from those tariffs. So, trade would be a major factor in their meeting.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'll talk to Prime Minister Abe of Japan and others, great guy, friend of mine, and they'll be a little smile in their face and the smile is I can't believe we've been able to take advantage of the United States for so long.

1 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

2 deport   

vt.驱逐出境

参考例句：

• We deport aliens who slip across our borders.我们把偷渡入境的外国人驱逐出境。
• More than 240 England football fans are being deported from Italy following riots last night.昨晚的骚乱发生后有240多名英格兰球迷被驱逐出意大利。

3 deported   

v.将…驱逐出境( deport的过去式和过去分词 )；举止

参考例句：

• They stripped me of my citizenship and deported me. 他们剥夺我的公民资格，将我驱逐出境。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The convicts were deported to a deserted island. 罪犯们被流放到一个荒岛。 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 deportation   

n.驱逐，放逐

参考例句：

• The government issued a deportation order against the four men.政府发出了对那4名男子的驱逐令。
• Years ago convicted criminals in England could face deportation to Australia.很多年以前，英国已定罪的犯人可能被驱逐到澳大利亚。

6 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

7 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。

8 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。

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 exemption   

n.豁免，免税额，免除

参考例句：

• You may be able to apply for exemption from local taxes.你可能符合资格申请免除地方税。
• These goods are subject to exemption from tax.这些货物可以免税。