2019年经济学人 单独行事 (1)

 

"Seeing possibilities in potatoes" is the upbeat slogan of Lamb Weston Potato Products, Inc., an American exporter.

“在土豆中看见无限可能”，这是美国出口商蓝威斯顿薯业公司的一条乐观的标语。

But new trade deals mean that its foreign competitors have fewer obstacles blocking their view.

但新的贸易协定意味着遮挡其外国竞争对手视线的障碍越来越少了。

One is the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership¹ (CPTPP), which came into effect on December 30th.

其中一份是于12月30日生效的全面与进步跨太平洋伙伴关系协定（CPTPP）。

Negotiated as the TPP between 12 countries and agreed between 11, after President Donald Trump² pulled America out,

TPP由12个国家协商而成，唐纳德·特朗普总统让美国推出TPP后，11国达成CPTPP协议，

the deal will phase out tariffs⁴ on frozen potato chips and mashed⁵ potato, benefiting Lamb Weston's Canadian rivals.

该协议将逐步取消针对速冻马铃薯条以及土豆泥的关税，蓝威斯顿的竞争对手因而受益。

And another trade deal, between the European Union and Japan, to be implemented⁶ on February 1st, will do the same for its European ones.

另一项欧盟和日本之间的协议将于2月1日实施，其内容和欧洲协议一致。

The coming year is shaping up to be one of preferential trade deals, where two or a group of countries agree on their own trading rules.

明年将成为特惠贸易协议的一年，两国或多国将对本国交易规则达成协议。

As well as CPTPP and the EU-Japan deal, America is aiming to strike several: with Japan, the EU and China.

和CPTPP以及欧日协议一样，美国计划和日本、欧盟以及中国达成几项协议。

Will they act as stepping stones towards broad trade liberalisation—or, on the contrary, distort trade and divide the world into competing trade regions?

这些协议会成为广泛贸易自由化的垫脚石么—还是，正好相反，破坏贸易并将世界分割为相互抵触的贸易区域？

And what will be the impact on the multilateral system overseen⁷ by the World Trade Organisation⁸ (WTO)?

并且这将对受国际贸易组织（WTO）监管的多边贸易体制造成怎样的影响呢？

Economists⁹ have long argued about the impact of preferential trade deals.

经济学家一直以来都对特惠贸易协议的影响争论不休。

For purists, it would be best if all trade took place under the WTO's "most-favoured nation" (MFN) principle,

对纯粹主义者而言，如果所有贸易都在WTO的“最惠国”（MFN）原则下进行是最好的，

which means that a tariff³ cut offered to one member must be offered to all, thus putting all exporters on an equal footing.

这意味着提供给一位成员国的关税削减将必须提供给所有成员国，因此，所有出口方都是平等的。

Others—self-described pragmatists—fear that reliance on the MFN principle would cause gridlock.

其他人—自称为实用主义者—担心对MFN原则的依赖会导致僵局。

If some countries are happy with the status quo, others might be reluctant to cut tariffs for fear of granting rivals a free ride.

如果一些国家对现状满意，其他国家可能会因为担心竞争对手会坐享其成而不愿降低关税。

China, for example, could refuse to reform while benefiting from lower American and European duties.

例如，中国享受着美国和欧洲的更低关税却拒绝改革。

Better, the pragmatists think, to strike smaller deals between like-minded members. That could spur laggards¹⁰ onwards:

实用主义者认为，最好是在那些志同道合的成员国中达成小范围的协议。这样会刺激落后者前进：

Brent Baglien, Lamb Weston's vice-president of government affairs, urged the United States Trade Representative (USTR),

蓝威斯顿政务副总裁布伦特·巴格林敦促美国最高贸易办公室美国贸易代表署（USTR）

America's top trade official, to seek a deal with Japan that would eliminate its 8.5% tariff on American imported potatoes.

和日本达成协议，对美国进口的土豆减税8.5%。

"Once the US loses an export customer, it is extremely hard, if not impossible, to get it back," he warned.

“美国一旦失去一位出口客户，就难以（如果有可能的话）再挽回他，”他警告称。

1 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。

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 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。

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 mashed   

a.捣烂的

参考例句：

• two scoops of mashed potato 两勺土豆泥
• Just one scoop of mashed potato for me, please. 请给我盛一勺土豆泥。

6 implemented   

v.实现( implement的过去式和过去分词 )；执行；贯彻；使生效

参考例句：

• This agreement, if not implemented, is a mere scrap of paper. 这个协定如不执行只不过是一纸空文。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The economy is in danger of collapse unless far-reaching reforms are implemented. 如果不实施影响深远的改革，经济就面临崩溃的危险。 来自辞典例句

7 overseen   

v.监督，监视( oversee的过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He was overseen stealing the letters. 他被人撞见在偷信件。 来自辞典例句
• It will be overseen by ThomasLi, director of IBM China Research Laboratory. 该实验室由IBM中国研究院院长李实恭(ThomasLi)引导。 来自互联网

8 organisation   

n.组织，安排，团体，有机休

参考例句：

• The method of his organisation work is worth commending.他的组织工作的方法值得称道。
• His application for membership of the organisation was rejected.他想要加入该组织的申请遭到了拒绝。

9 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》

10 laggards   

n.落后者( laggard的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• I would say the best students at Chengdu are no laggards. 依我看成都最优秀的学生绝不逊色。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The laggards include utilities and telecommunications, up about % and 12% respectively, to MSCI. 据摩根士丹利资本国际的数据，涨幅居后的包括公用事业和电信类股，分别涨了约%和12%。 来自互联网