经济学人:北美贸易:不公平的比赛(1)

 For years President Donald Trump¹ has been itching² to withdraw from the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), 几年来，唐纳德·特朗普总统一直想要退出北美自由贸易协定（NAFTA），

a trade deal between America, Canada and Mexico. But as long as negotiations³ about a revamp continued, he held off. 这是一项美国、加拿大和墨西哥之间的贸易协议。但是只要关于修改协议的谈判还在继续，他就会回避。

The day after signing a new deal on November 30th, rebranded the USMCA, 11月30日，签署完一份新协议后（新协议更名为USMCA），

he announced that he would "shortly" indulge himself and terminate the original deal after all. 他宣布他将“立刻”纵容自己并终止原协议。

That would force Congress to choose between the USMCA and a NAFTA-less world. 这将迫使国会在USMCA以及无NAFTA协议这两个局面中做选择。

"If Trump's new NAFTA is so great, why does he need to resort to brinkmanship to ram⁴ it through Congress?" asked Ron Wyden, a Democratic senator. “如果特朗普的新NAFTA协议真的那么好，那为什么他需要借助边缘政策迫使国会接受呢？”民主党参议员罗恩·维登问道。

The answer is that many do not think the new deal is so great. The AFL-CIO, a union of unions, calls it incomplete. 答案是很多人认为他的新协议并没有那么好。工会组织美国劳工联合会-产业工会联合会（AFL-CIO）称该协议残缺不全。

Nancy Pelosi, the minority leader in Congress and probably the next speaker, says it is a "work in progress". 国会少数党领袖南希·佩洛西兼下一任议长表示该协议“还在进程之中”。

Some Republicans express misgivings⁵. Mr Trump wants to silence such voices. 一些共和党人表示疑虑。特朗普希望平息这些议论。

If this plan fails, and the Democrat-dominated House votes down the USMCA next year, it may be in part to deny Mr Trump a foreign-policy success. 如果该计划失败并且民主党主导的众议院明年投票否决USMCA，那么这或许是否认特朗普外交政策成功的一部分。

But Democrats⁶ also have substantive⁷ complaints. 但是民主党人也有很多不满。

The biggest is that, though the labour standards in the new pact⁸ are tougher than in the old version 最大的抱怨是，虽然新协议中的劳工标准比旧版本更加严格

(or than in the Trans-Pacific Partnership⁹, or TPP, which was negotiated under Barack Obama and dumped by Mr Trump), （或是比跨太平洋伙伴关系协定（TPP）中的标准更加严格，TPP是在巴拉克·奥巴马执政期间协定并被特朗普抛弃），

many regard the enforcement provisions as too weak. 很多人认为强制性条款太过脆弱。

Older trade deals involving America allow any member that thinks another is breaking the terms to launch an official dispute. 美国参与的旧贸易协议允许任何认为另一方违反了协议条款的成员发起一场官方争端。

Once various procedural hoops¹⁰ have been jumped through, the parties pick five from a roster¹¹ of judges, who decide whether there has been wrongdoing. 一旦跨过了程序上的层层关卡，各方会从一份法官名册上挑选5名判决贸易中是否存在不当行为。

 

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 itching   

adj.贪得的，痒的，渴望的v.发痒( itch的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The itching was almost more than he could stand. 他痒得几乎忍不住了。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• My nose is itching. 我的鼻子发痒。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 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。

4 ram   

(random access memory)随机存取存储器

参考例句：

• 512k RAM is recommended and 640k RAM is preferred.推荐配置为512K内存，640K内存则更佳。

5 misgivings   

n.疑虑，担忧，害怕；疑虑，担心，恐惧( misgiving的名词复数 )；疑惧

参考例句：

• I had grave misgivings about making the trip. 对于这次旅行我有过极大的顾虑。
• Don't be overtaken by misgivings and fear. Just go full stream ahead! 不要瞻前顾后， 畏首畏尾。甩开膀子干吧！ 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

6 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 substantive   

adj.表示实在的；本质的、实质性的；独立的；n.实词，实名词；独立存在的实体

参考例句：

• They plan to meet again in Rome very soon to begin substantive negotiations.他们计划不久在罗马再次会晤以开始实质性的谈判。
• A president needs substantive advice,but he also requires emotional succor. 一个总统需要实质性的建议，但也需要感情上的支持。

8 pact   

n.合同，条约，公约，协定

参考例句：

• The two opposition parties made an electoral pact.那两个反对党订了一个有关选举的协定。
• The trade pact between those two countries came to an end.那两国的通商协定宣告结束。

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 hoops   

n.箍( hoop的名词复数 )；（篮球）篮圈；（旧时儿童玩的）大环子；（两端埋在地里的）小铁弓

参考例句：

• a barrel bound with iron hoops 用铁箍箍紧的桶
• Hoops in Paris were wider this season and skirts were shorter. 在巴黎，这个季节的裙圈比较宽大，裙裾却短一些。 来自飘（部分）

11 roster   

n.值勤表，花名册

参考例句：

• The teacher checked the roster to see whom he would teach this year.老师查看花名册，想了解今年要教的学生。
• The next day he put himself first on the new roster for domestic chores.第二天，他把自己排在了新的家务值日表的第一位。