美国国家公共电台 NPR Got Lobster? Trump's Steel Tariffs Threaten Trap Industry

 

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

China is threatening to impose new tariffs² on lobsters⁴ from the United States in what could be the latest volley in a growing trade dispute. But, as Craig LeMoult of member station WGBH reports, the American lobster³ industry is already starting to feel the impact of steel tariffs imposed by the Trump⁵ administration.

BOB MORRIS: Watch your head while I get this open.

(SOUNDBITE OF BULKHEAD DOORS OPENING)

CRAIG LEMOULT, BYLINE⁶: Bob Morris opens the bulkhead doors to his basement in Rockport, Mass., and heads down into his workshop. Morris is a lifelong lobsterman, and when he's not out hauling lobster traps, he's building them here in his basement.

MORRIS: This trap here is a 3-foot model.

LEMOULT: When he first started making lobster traps at 9 years old, the crates⁷ were made of wood and rope. But back in the '80s, pretty much the whole industry switched to traps made of wire grids⁹.

MORRIS: It's got to be nearly 100 percent wire pots today in the lobster industry.

LEMOULT: And here's where the new tariffs come in. That wire is made of steel, and most lobster pots in the country are built from steel mesh¹⁰ made here at Riverdale Mills in Northbridge, Mass.

JAMES KNOTT JR.: So this is the raw material that we start with. This is called the wire rod, and it's a hot-rolled long product.

LEMOULT: The company's CEO James Knott Jr. points to three-ton coils of steel wire stacked four-high on the factory floor. That wire gets stretched out, welded into a grid⁸, galvanized and coated in plastic. Wire mesh from Riverdale Mills is then turned into lobster traps and other products, including security fencing. Knott says, if they can, the company gets its raw steel here in the U.S., but it's become much harder to come by since President Trump started talking about tariffs.

KNOTT JR.: The prices for the wire rod from first quarter of this year to right now have almost doubled.

LEMOULT: So they've been ordering some from Canada, but now they have to pay a 25 percent tariff¹ on that Canadian steel. And since the tariffs don't apply to partially¹¹ finished products, just the raw material, Knott says he's worried about competitors from Europe and China shipping¹² in steel they've already made into wire mesh.

KNOTT JR.: What's probably going to evolve over the next 120 days or so is people will stop placing orders with us and start placing orders with foreign suppliers who compete with us making similar products.

LEMOULT: Riverdale Mills has requested an exemption¹³ from the tariffs, one of nearly 19,000 exemption requests that the Commerce Department has received. Knott's a self-described free trader and lifelong Republican, and he says the tariffs aren't well thought out. Robert Bayer is the executive director of the Lobster Institute at the University of Maine.

ROBERT BAYER: It's going to hurt a lot of people.

LEMOULT: Bayer says in the lobster industry, it's not just companies like Riverdale Mills that are going to feel that pain. Lobster traps are going to become more expensive, whether they're made with American steel or foreign product. And that hits the lobstermen, who can't raise their prices to make up for it.

BAYER: Price of lobster is based on supply and demand, and it's not related to your costs as a fisherman.

LEMOULT: Trap builder Bob Morris says he's a loyal American who wouldn't think of buying a foreign wire mesh. So he's going to have to charge more.

MORRIS: Now, as a trap builder, it's going to be uncomfortable to look a fisherman in the eye and say, well, what cost you this last year is now that.

LEMOULT: And the tariffs have also put Morris in a tough spot as a Trump supporter.

MORRIS: All's I can say about it is I hope you know what you're doing.

LEMOULT: Morris says he's hoping Trump has a strategy that's going to pan out, that the tariffs will strengthen the economy in the long run.

MORRIS: I'm going to bear the brunt of it. I'm going to hope and pray for the best for our country, our corporations like Riverdale and the workers there, the fishermen - everybody. But if it goes awry¹⁴, I'll stand - I'll be the first one to admit that I was wrong in supporting that.

LEMOULT: For now, he says, he's putting his faith in the president. For NPR News, I'm Craig LeMoult.

1 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。

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 lobster   

n.龙虾，龙虾肉

参考例句：

• The lobster is a shellfish.龙虾是水生贝壳动物。
• I like lobster but it does not like me.我喜欢吃龙虾，但它不适宜于我的健康。

4 lobsters   

龙虾( lobster的名词复数 )； 龙虾肉

参考例句：

• I have no idea about how to prepare those cuttlefish and lobsters. 我对如何烹调那些乌贼和龙虾毫无概念。
• She sold me a couple of live lobsters. 她卖了几只活龙虾给我。

5 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。

6 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。

7 crates   

n. 板条箱, 篓子, 旧汽车 vt. 装进纸条箱

参考例句：

• We were using crates as seats. 我们用大木箱作为座位。
• Thousands of crates compacted in a warehouse. 数以千计的板条箱堆放在仓库里。

8 grid   

n.高压输电线路网；地图坐标方格；格栅

参考例句：

• In this application,the carrier is used to encapsulate the grid.在这种情况下，要用载体把格栅密封起来。
• Modern gauges consist of metal foil in the form of a grid.现代应变仪则由网格形式的金属片组成。

9 grids   

n.格子( grid的名词复数 )；地图上的坐标方格；（输电线路、天然气管道等的）系统网络；（汽车比赛）赛车起跑线

参考例句：

• Typical framed structures are beams, grids, plane and space frames or trusses. 典型构架结构为梁、格栅、平面的和空间的框架或桁架。 来自辞典例句
• The machines deliver trimmed grids for use or stock. 这种机器铸出修整过的板栅，以供使用或储存。 来自辞典例句

10 mesh   

n.网孔，网丝，陷阱；vt.以网捕捉，啮合，匹配；vi.适合； [计算机]网络

参考例句：

• Their characters just don't mesh.他们的性格就是合不来。
• This is the net having half inch mesh.这是有半英寸网眼的网。

11 partially   

adv.部分地，从某些方面讲

参考例句：

• The door was partially concealed by the drapes.门有一部分被门帘遮住了。
• The police managed to restore calm and the curfew was partially lifted.警方设法恢复了平静，宵禁部分解除。

12 shipping   

n.船运（发货，运输，乘船）

参考例句：

• We struck a bargain with an American shipping firm.我们和一家美国船运公司谈成了一笔生意。
• There's a shipping charge of ￡5 added to the price.价格之外另加五英镑运输费。

13 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。

14 awry   

adj.扭曲的，错的

参考例句：

• She was in a fury over a plan that had gone awry. 计划出了问题，她很愤怒。
• Something has gone awry in our plans.我们的计划出差错了。