美国国家公共电台 NPR Congressional Republicans Struggle To Push Back On Trump's Tariffs

 

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

Republicans in Congress are increasingly worried that President Trump¹ seems set on waging a trade war with countries across the globe. The Trump administration has slapped tariffs³ on Chinese goods and on products from close allies in the EU and Canada. Congressional Republicans are worried that escalating⁴ a trade war could harm the U.S. economy right before the crucial midterm elections. Even House Speaker Paul Ryan criticized the tariffs several times this week.

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PAUL RYAN: I don't want to hamstring the president's negotiating tactics, but I've long said I don't think tariffs are the right way to go.

GREENE: NPR's Kelsey Snell covers Congress, and she joins us to talk about this. Hi, Kelsey.

KELSEY SNELL, BYLINE⁵: Hi there.

GREENE: So how many Republicans agree with Ryan that these tariffs are the wrong way to, you know, do things like get China to even the playing field on trade, as President Trump talks about?

SNELL: Actually, nearly all of the Republicans that I talked to over the past couple of days agree with Paul Ryan. They say that they would like to have other ways of addressing tariffs or trade imbalances. They think there are more targeted ways to get our trading partners to allow our goods to get into their countries a little bit easier. Actually, this is one of those weird⁶ things where it's actually Rust-Belt Democrats⁷ who tend to agree with Trump, not people in his own party. It kind of scrambles⁸ those normal allies...

GREENE: Yeah.

SNELL: ...That we would expect. And, you know, people up on the Hill tell me that they want to do something to give Congress some more power over this. Take retiring Senator Bob Corker. He's introduced at least three different ways to try - to rollbacks on Trump's tariff² power. This is what he said.

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BOB CORKER: It's just ham-handed. It lacks any degree of coherency.

SNELL: Yeah, so he's pretty frustrated⁹. He was telling anybody who would listen that there is something that Congress can do and should do. Just a matter of, will they?

GREENE: I mean, such a weird political dynamic, I mean, since Republicans, you know, have the leadership in Congress but are feeling like what they really can't do that much?

SNELL: Right. There isn't really all that much they can do because, as Speaker Ryan and a lot of other Republicans said, what it would take is an act of Congress. And Congress would have to say that - 'cause to be clear, Congress in the Constitution has the ability to levy¹⁰ tariffs. But over time that power has been given over to the president. And so Congress would have to pass a law to take that power back. And Texas Congressman¹¹ Bill Flores is one of those people who is really worried about the tariffs. But he was pretty blunt when I asked him if he thought Congress has much of a chance of reclaiming¹² some of their power.

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BILL FLORES: It'd take legislation. Of course, if I were the president, I would veto it.

SNELL: (Laughter).

GREENE: Wow. This is quite a moment for the Republican Party - I mean, hoping to go into this fall, hang on to both houses of Congress. Probably not what they would have wanted at all to be an open disagreement with the president.

SNELL: Right, because most of the Republicans out there running for re-election are running on a message that the economy is doing well. They're pointing at low unemployment numbers. They're talking about big growth. And they're saying it all came from - well, not all - but largely came from those tax cuts that passed at the end of last year. And now they're worried that a big trade war would wipe out all of those gains.

GREENE: Can I just ask you about another story on Capitol Hill this week? You had FBI agent Peter Strzok, who's faced this withering¹³ criticism of his handling of the investigations¹⁵ into Hillary Clinton and also President Trump, actually testifying. So many questions about what this could mean for the Mueller investigation¹⁴. I mean, how did this go?

SNELL: Well, he was up there for about 10 hours.

GREENE: Wow.

SNELL: And it was explosive. It was a day full of shouting and frustration¹⁶. And it was an extremely partisan¹⁷ exercise. It turned into almost personal at points. Congressman Louie Gohmert was asking him questions, and it got really heated. I think we have a little bit of sound of that.

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LOUIE GOHMERT: And I've talked to FBI agents around the country. You've embarrassed them. You've embarrassed yourself. And I can't help but wonder when I see you looking there with a little smirk¹⁸, how many times did you look so innocent into your wife's eye and lie to her about...

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: Mr. Chairman, this is outrageous¹⁹.

GREENE: My goodness.

SNELL: Yeah. So that was maybe one of the most heated moments. But there was a lot of that going on. It was a big political show.

GREENE: NPR congressional reporter Kelsey Snell joining us this morning. Kelsey, have a good weekend, and thanks.

SNELL: Thank you.

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 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。

3 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。

4 escalating   

v.（使）逐步升级( escalate的现在分词 )；（使）逐步扩大；（使）更高；（使）更大

参考例句：

• The cost of living is escalating. 生活费用在迅速上涨。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The cost of living is escalating in the country. 这个国家的生活费用在上涨。 来自辞典例句

5 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。

6 weird   

adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的

参考例句：

• From his weird behaviour,he seems a bit of an oddity.从他不寻常的行为看来，他好像有点怪。
• His weird clothes really gas me.他的怪衣裳简直笑死人。

7 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》

8 scrambles   

n.抢夺( scramble的名词复数 )v.快速爬行( scramble的第三人称单数 )；攀登；争夺；（军事飞机）紧急起飞

参考例句：

• The breaking of symmetry scrambles the underlying order of nature. 对称性的破坏会打乱自然界的根本秩序。 来自互联网
• The move comes as Japan scrambles for ways to persuade women to have more babies. 这一行动的出现正值日本政府想尽各种办法鼓励妇女多生育孩子。 来自互联网

9 frustrated   

adj.挫败的，失意的，泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的过去式和过去分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧

参考例句：

• It's very easy to get frustrated in this job. 这个工作很容易令人懊恼。
• The bad weather frustrated all our hopes of going out. 恶劣的天气破坏了我们出行的愿望。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 levy   

n.征收税或其他款项，征收额

参考例句：

• They levy a tax on him.他们向他征税。
• A direct food levy was imposed by the local government.地方政府征收了食品税。

11 Congressman   

n.（美）国会议员

参考例句：

• He related several anecdotes about his first years as a congressman.他讲述自己初任议员那几年的几则轶事。
• The congressman is meditating a reply to his critics.这位国会议员正在考虑给他的批评者一个答复。

12 reclaiming   

v.开拓( reclaim的现在分词 )；要求收回；从废料中回收（有用的材料）；挽救

参考例句：

• People here are reclaiming land from the sea. 这儿的人们正在填海拓地。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• How could such a man need reclaiming? 这么一个了不起的人怎么还需要别人拯救呢？ 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

13 withering   

使人畏缩的，使人害羞的，使人难堪的

参考例句：

• She gave him a withering look. 她极其蔑视地看了他一眼。
• The grass is gradually dried-up and withering and pallen leaves. 草渐渐干枯、枯萎并落叶。

14 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

15 investigations   

（正式的）调查( investigation的名词复数 )； 侦查； 科学研究； 学术研究

参考例句：

• His investigations were intensive and thorough but revealed nothing. 他进行了深入彻底的调查，但没有发现什么。
• He often sent them out to make investigations. 他常常派他们出去作调查。

16 frustration   

n.挫折，失败，失效，落空

参考例句：

• He had to fight back tears of frustration.他不得不强忍住失意的泪水。
• He beat his hands on the steering wheel in frustration.他沮丧地用手打了几下方向盘。

17 partisan   

adj.党派性的；游击队的；n.游击队员；党徒

参考例句：

• In their anger they forget all the partisan quarrels.愤怒之中，他们忘掉一切党派之争。
• The numerous newly created partisan detachments began working slowly towards that region.许多新建的游击队都开始慢慢地向那里移动。

18 smirk   

n.得意地笑；v.傻笑；假笑着说

参考例句：

• He made no attempt to conceal his smirk.他毫不掩饰自鸣得意的笑容。
• She had a selfsatisfied smirk on her face.她脸上带着自鸣得意的微笑。

19 outrageous   

adj.无理的，令人不能容忍的

参考例句：

• Her outrageous behaviour at the party offended everyone.她在聚会上的无礼行为触怒了每一个人。
• Charges for local telephone calls are particularly outrageous.本地电话资费贵得出奇。