美国国家公共电台 NPR Businesses Duck And Cover As Trump Says Trade War Is 'Easy To Win'

 

AILSA CHANG, HOST:

A defiant¹ President Trump² declared today, trade wars are good and easy to win. Trump may have fired the opening shot this week when he announced plans to impose stiff tariffs⁴ on imported steel and aluminum⁵. In this battle, as with any war, some people get the spoils, while others get caught in the crossfire⁶. NPR's Scott Horsley reports.

SCOTT HORSLEY, BYLINE⁷: The tariffs are intended to protect America's domestic steel and aluminum industries, which Trump said ruefully used to be a lot bigger. Scott Paul, who runs the Alliance for American Manufacturing, knows. Steel employment has dropped more than a third in the last two decades, while aluminum job shrank nearly 60 percent in just three years.

SCOTT PAUL: The thing about those jobs is that they're hard to replace in those communities in the industrial Midwest. It's likely that the workers who lose those jobs will never find another job. Or if they do, it'll be at a much, much lower pay grade.

HORSLEY: Paul's group has been running TV ads urging the administration to crack down on imports. He was delighted by the president's surprise announcement, which calls for even bigger tariffs than the Commerce Department recommended.

PAUL: It's been a crazy 36 hours or so (laughter).

HORSLEY: But while U.S. steel and aluminum makers⁸ were buoyed⁹ by the president's move, much of the rest of the economy was rattled¹⁰ by the prospect¹¹ of higher prices for products that use steel and aluminum, as well as retaliation¹² by America's trading partners. The White House downplayed the effect on prices, saying the tariffs would add perhaps a penny to the cost of an aluminum can. But Jim McGreevey of the Beer Institute says it's not good for Joe Six-pack when the price of a six-pack goes up.

JIM MCGREEVEY: Those pennies add up. Last year, American brewers bought more than 36 billion beer cans.

HORSLEY: Multiply that by dozens of other metal-consuming industries. As the Wall Street Journal noted¹³, U.S. steel mills employ 140,000 people. Companies that use steel employ 6 1/2 million.

MCGREEVEY: We're really hoping that the president will hear the concerns that the aerospace¹⁴, soft drink, automobile¹⁵ manufacturers have raised and take a different course before next week.

HORSLEY: Other countries have promised to fight the U.S. tariffs with import restrictions¹⁶ of their own, targeting Kentucky bourbon, for example, or Harley Davidson motorcycles. U.S. agriculture could also take a hit.

KRISTIN DUNCANSON: Farmers oftentimes get stuck in this tit-for-tat retaliation kind of scenario¹⁷. And it just is not good for American agriculture.

HORSLEY: Kristin Duncanson raises soybeans, corn and hogs¹⁸ in south central Minnesota. She and her farm neighbors are heavily dependent on export markets in Europe and Asia.

DUNCANSON: We figure here in Minnesota, about one in every third row of soybeans get exported.

HORSLEY: At a commodity conference in California this week, Duncanson says many farmers have been buttonholing the secretary of agriculture, hoping Sonny Perdue might persuade the president to change course.

DUNCANSON: We'll ask him to make sure that the president realizes what these kind of actions mean to America's farmers and ranchers. And I can tell you there are some phones ringing off the hook in congressional offices, too, today.

HORSLEY: Trump doesn't need a green light from Congress to impose tariffs, but the crackdown on steel and aluminum imports is controversial even within the White House. The president announced his plans yesterday before aides even had time to craft a formal order. Tariff³ supporter Scott Paul acknowledges things still could change.

PAUL: We're not taking anything for granted yet because we realize there's a few days before the president said he would finally sign something.

HORSLEY: If the last 36 hours have been crazy, the next week could be even more so. Scott Horsley, NPR News, Washington.

1 defiant   

adj.无礼的，挑战的

参考例句：

• With a last defiant gesture,they sang a revolutionary song as they were led away to prison.他们被带走投入监狱时，仍以最后的反抗姿态唱起了一支革命歌曲。
• He assumed a defiant attitude toward his employer.他对雇主采取挑衅的态度。

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 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。

6 crossfire   

n.被卷进争端

参考例句：

• They say they are caught in the crossfire between the education establishment and the government.他们称自己被卷进了教育机构与政府之间的争端。
• When two industrial giants clash,small companies can get caught in the crossfire.两大工业企业争斗之下，小公司遭受池鱼之殃。

7 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

8 makers   

n.制造者，制造商（maker的复数形式）

参考例句：

• The makers of the product assured us that there had been no sacrifice of quality. 这一产品的制造商向我们保证说他们没有牺牲质量。
• The makers are about to launch out a new product. 制造商们马上要生产一种新产品。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 buoyed   

v.使浮起( buoy的过去式和过去分词 )；支持；为…设浮标；振奋…的精神

参考例句：

• Buoyed by their win yesterday the team feel confident of further success. 在昨天胜利的鼓舞下，该队有信心再次获胜。
• His encouragement buoyed her up during that difficult period. 他的鼓励使她在那段困难时期恢复了乐观的情绪。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 rattled   

慌乱的，恼火的

参考例句：

• The truck jolted and rattled over the rough ground. 卡车嘎吱嘎吱地在凹凸不平的地面上颠簸而行。
• Every time a bus went past, the windows rattled. 每逢公共汽车经过这里，窗户都格格作响。

11 prospect   

n.前景，前途；景色，视野

参考例句：

• This state of things holds out a cheerful prospect.事态呈现出可喜的前景。
• The prospect became more evident.前景变得更加明朗了。

12 retaliation   

n.报复，反击

参考例句：

• retaliation against UN workers 对联合国工作人员的报复
• He never said a single word in retaliation. 他从未说过一句反击的话。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

14 aerospace   

adj.航空的，宇宙航行的

参考例句：

• The world's entire aerospace industry is feeling the chill winds of recession.全世界的航空航天工业都感受到了经济衰退的寒意。
• Edward Murphy was an aerospace engineer for the US Army.爱德华·墨菲是一名美军的航宇工程师。

15 automobile   

n.汽车，机动车

参考例句：

• He is repairing the brake lever of an automobile.他正在修理汽车的刹车杆。
• The automobile slowed down to go around the curves in the road.汽车在路上转弯时放慢了速度。

16 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

17 scenario   

n.剧本，脚本；概要

参考例句：

• But the birth scenario is not completely accurate.然而分娩脚本并非完全准确的。
• This is a totally different scenario.这是完全不同的剧本。

18 hogs   

n.（尤指喂肥供食用的）猪( hog的名词复数 )；（供食用的）阉公猪；彻底地做某事；自私的或贪婪的人

参考例句：

• 'sounds like -- like hogs grunting. “像——像是猪发出的声音。 来自英汉文学 - 汤姆历险
• I hate the way he hogs down his food. 我讨厌他那副狼吞虎咽的吃相。 来自辞典例句