经济学人:贸易战争:谁是最后的赢家(1)

 　　When Donald Trump¹ tweeted on August 5th that tariffs² were working "big time", American media sprang into action to test the claim. 8月5日，唐纳德·特朗普在推特上说，关税“颇有成效”，美国媒体蓄势待发，他们想要检验这种说法。

　　In China, editors were more circumspect³. No major Chinese-language newspaper reported his tweets. 中国媒体则更加慎重。中国主流媒体并没有对特朗普的这条推文进行报道。

　　One of his claims—that China's stock market has fallen 27% in the past four months—was an exaggeration. 其中一条内容—中国股票市场在过去四个月跌了27%—夸大了事实。

　　But why would any self-respecting propagandist in Beijing dwell on that? 但是为什么没有一家中国主流媒体报道过这件事呢？

　　Chinese stocks have indeed fallen sharply, which officials do not wish to emphasise⁴. 中国股票市场确实急剧下跌，官方并不想强调这一点。

　　And this is just one of a series of awkward facts for China as its trade war with America deepens. 中国与美国贸易战争深化，而这只不过是中国所面临的一系列尴尬事实中的一个。

　　The yuan is down 8% against the dollar since April, and near its weakest in more than a year. 自四月以来，人民币兑美元汇率下跌8%，在一年多的时间内，趋近最疲软的时刻。

　　A shrinking trade surplus produced a current-account deficit⁵ in the first half of 2018, China's first such gap in at least two decades. 2018年上半年，贸易顺差缩水导致收支往来帐户赤字，这是中国在至少20年内首次出现这样的差距。

　　More broadly, China's growth is slowing at a time when America's economy is expanding at its fastest pace since 2014. 更广泛地讲，自2014年起，美国经济开始以最快的速度进行扩张，而那时中国经济发展正在放慢脚步。

　　No wonder Mr. Trump feels that he is on the right path, and that Chinese investors⁶ are jittery⁷. 难怪特朗普会觉得他正步入正轨，而中国投资者则紧张不安。

　　Making matters worse for China is a whiplash effect. 对中国而言，更糟糕的是一种鞭梢效应。

　　Until recently officials and executives believed their own declarations of technological⁸ prowess. 直到最近，官方和执行者们仍相信他们科技能力的声明。

　　Privately⁹, advisers¹⁰ were confident that Mr. Trump could be placated¹¹ with promises to ramp¹² up imports from America. 在私下里，顾问们相信可以用增加美国进口的承诺来安抚特朗普。

　　Now both views look wanting. An agreement for China to buy more American natural gas and soya beans collapsed¹³ in June. 现在这两种观点似乎都不够准确。今年6月，中国从美国购买更多天然气和大豆的协议破裂。

　　Chinese officials are keenly aware of vulnerabilities; had America maintained its sanctions on sales of semiconductors¹⁴ to ZTE, 中国官方敏锐地意识到其弱点；让美国维持对ZTE半导体销售的制裁，

　　the Chinese telecoms giant might well have gone out of business. Those with a conspiratorial¹⁵ mindset see things in a darker light. 这家中国电信巨头很有可能因此停业。那些满脑子阴谋论的人总是以更加黑暗的眼光看事情。

　　"The Americans don't want a deal. They want to screw us," says a fund manager. “美国人不想要协议。他们想打压我们，”一位基金经理说道。

1 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。

2 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。

3 circumspect   

adj.慎重的，谨慎的

参考例句：

• She is very circumspect when dealing with strangers.她与陌生人打交道时十分谨慎。
• He was very circumspect in his financial affairs.他对于自己的财务十分细心。

4 emphasise   

vt.加强...的语气，强调，着重

参考例句：

• What special feature do you think I should emphasise? 你认为我该强调什么呢？
• The exercises heavily emphasise the required readings.练习非常强调必须的阅读。

5 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。

6 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

7 jittery   

adj. 神经过敏的, 战战兢兢的

参考例句：

• However, nothing happened though he continued to feel jittery. 可是，自从拉上这辆车，并没有出什么错儿，虽然他心中嘀嘀咕咕的不安。 来自汉英文学 - 骆驼祥子
• The thirty-six Enterprise divebombers were being squandered in a jittery shot from the hip. 这三十六架“企业号”上的俯冲轰炸机正被孤注一掷。

8 technological   

adj.技术的；工艺的

参考例句：

• A successful company must keep up with the pace of technological change.一家成功的公司必须得跟上技术变革的步伐。
• Today,the pace of life is increasing with technological advancements.当今， 随着科技进步，生活节奏不断增快。

9 privately   

adv.以私人的身份，悄悄地，私下地

参考例句：

• Some ministers admit privately that unemployment could continue to rise.一些部长私下承认失业率可能继续升高。
• The man privately admits that his motive is profits.那人私下承认他的动机是为了牟利。

10 advisers   

顾问，劝告者( adviser的名词复数 )； （指导大学新生学科问题等的）指导教授

参考例句：

• a member of the President's favoured circle of advisers 总统宠爱的顾问班子中的一员
• She withdrew to confer with her advisers before announcing a decision. 她先去请教顾问然后再宣布决定。

11 placated   

v.安抚，抚慰，使平静( placate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She hardly knew how to answer this, and yet her wrath was not placated. 她几乎不知道该如何来回答他，然而她的怒气并没有气息。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

12 ramp   

n.暴怒，斜坡，坡道；vi.作恐吓姿势，暴怒，加速；vt.加速

参考例句：

• That driver drove the car up the ramp.那司机将车开上了斜坡。
• The factory don't have that capacity to ramp up.这家工厂没有能力加速生产。

13 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

14 semiconductors   

n.半导体( semiconductor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Crystals may be insulators, semiconductors, or conductors. 晶体可以是绝缘体，半导体，或导体。 来自辞典例句
• Semiconductors containing such impurities are called p-type semiconductors. 含有这类杂质的半导体叫做P型半导体。 来自辞典例句

15 conspiratorial   

adj.阴谋的，阴谋者的

参考例句：

• She handed the note to me with a conspiratorial air. 她鬼鬼祟祟地把字条交给了我。 来自辞典例句
• It was enough to win a gap-toothed, conspiratorial grin. 这赢得对方咧嘴一笑。 来自互联网