美国国家公共电台 NPR Treasury Declares China A 'Currency Manipulator,' Escalating Trade War

 

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

The stock market appears to be rebounding¹ a bit this morning, regaining² some of the ground it lost yesterday. And there were signs of a possible reprieve³ from the all-out trade war between the U.S. and China. China's central bank took steps overnight to prevent a freefall in the country's currency. A day earlier, the currency hit an 11-year low, prompting complaints from the U.S. Treasury⁴ Department. We've got NPR's Scott Horsley in the studio to explain what all this means. Hi, Scott.

SCOTT HORSLEY, BYLINE⁵: Good morning, Rachel.

MARTIN: So yesterday was a bad day for the market, the worst all year right? What are we seeing today?

HORSLEY: Stocks have bounced back a little bit. Yesterday, both the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 were off about 3 percent. So far this morning, they've regained⁶ a fraction of that. The Dow is up about four-tenths of a percent, the S&P up about six-tenths of a percent. The markets are still pretty jittery⁷, though. White House economic adviser⁸ Larry Kudlow tried to offer some reassurance⁹ this morning. He told CNBC there's still a chance of a truce¹⁰ in the U.S.-China trade war.

(SOUNDBITE OF CNBC BROADCAST)

LARRY KUDLOW: As difficult as things may be - and I know the markets are a bit volatile¹¹ - but the reality is we would like to negotiate. The president has said, you know, if you make good deal or good progress on a deal, maybe he'll be flexible on the tariffs¹². On the other hand, if there's no progress on the deal, then the tariffs might get worse. But he's open to it.

HORSLEY: The sell-off on Wall Street really began last week when the president announced plans to slap new tariffs on another $300 billion worth of Chinese goods. And the drop in stocks on Monday - the stocks dropped yesterday after China allowed its currency to fall.

MARTIN: Right. So what's happening with the Chinese currency now?

HORSLEY: China's central bank says it is committed to maintaining the basic stability of the currency and says it won't use devaluation to gain a competitive advantage - making its own exports more affordable¹³, for example. China's currency is still trading below seven to the dollar, which is a threshold that China had maintained for a long time. But for the moment at least, it looks like China's not going to just let the currency drop a lot below that. Last night, the Treasury Department officially labeled China a currency manipulator, which is a step the president has long called for but hadn't actually done until just now. The odd thing is most analysts¹⁴ say China didn't so much artificially depress its currency yesterday as just stop taking artificial steps to prop¹⁵ that currency up.

MARTIN: Can you explain, Scott, why these currency moves cause so much havoc¹⁶ in the market?

HORSLEY: Lower currency does make Chinese goods cheaper on the world market and puts U.S. manufacturers at a competitive disadvantage. But even beyond the actual currency moves, what the market seems to be reacting to in recent days is just a threat that both the U.S. and China are digging in in this trade war. Earlier this year, markets were kind of hoping there'd be a quick resolution. Now that's looking less likely. Jack¹⁷ Ablin of Cresset Capital in Chicago says that's causing a lot of volatility¹⁸.

JACK ABLIN: Any investor¹⁹ who had anticipated that President Xi and President Trump²⁰ would shake hands and reach some kind of an agreement by year end is probably scratching that scenario²¹ off their blackboard.

HORSLEY: Now, Larry Kudlow, always the sunny optimist²², tried to put the best face on this this morning, telling CNBC that there is going to be another round of negotiations²³ here in Washington next month. The last couple of rounds, however, have not yielded much progress. And the uncertainty²⁴ that's resulted from that has led to a slowdown both in the U.S. factory sector²⁵ - and, Rachel, this week there were signs the much-larger services side of the economy is slowing down, as well.

MARTIN: NPR's Scott Horsley for us. Thanks, Scott. We appreciate it.

HORSLEY: You're welcome.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

1 rebounding   

蹦跳运动

参考例句：

• The strength of negative temperature concrete is tested with supersonic-rebounding method. 本文将超声回弹综合法用于负温混凝土强度检测。
• The fundamental of basketball includes shooting, passing and catching, rebounding, etc. 篮球运动中最基本的东西包括投篮，传接球，篮板球等。

2 regaining   

复得( regain的现在分词 )； 赢回； 重回； 复至某地

参考例句：

• She was regaining consciousness now, but the fear was coming with her. 现在她正在恢发她的知觉，但是恐怖也就伴随着来了。
• She said briefly, regaining her will with a click. 她干脆地答道，又马上重新振作起精神来。

3 reprieve   

n.暂缓执行（死刑）；v.缓期执行；给…带来缓解

参考例句：

• He was saved from the gallows by a lastminute reprieve.最后一刻的缓刑令把他从绞架上解救了下来。
• The railway line, due for closure, has been granted a six-month reprieve.本应停运的铁路线获准多运行6 个月。

4 treasury   

n.宝库；国库，金库；文库

参考例句：

• The Treasury was opposed in principle to the proposals.财政部原则上反对这些提案。
• This book is a treasury of useful information.这本书是有价值的信息宝库。

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 regained   

复得( regain的过去式和过去分词 )； 赢回； 重回； 复至某地

参考例句：

• The majority of the people in the world have regained their liberty. 世界上大多数人已重获自由。
• She hesitated briefly but quickly regained her poise. 她犹豫片刻，但很快恢复了镇静。

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 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。

9 reassurance   

n.使放心，使消除疑虑

参考例句：

• He drew reassurance from the enthusiastic applause.热烈的掌声使他获得了信心。
• Reassurance is especially critical when it comes to military activities.消除疑虑在军事活动方面尤为关键。

10 truce   

n.休战，(争执，烦恼等的)缓和；v.以停战结束

参考例句：

• The hot weather gave the old man a truce from rheumatism.热天使这位老人暂时免受风湿病之苦。
• She had thought of flying out to breathe the fresh air in an interval of truce.她想跑出去呼吸一下休战期间的新鲜空气。

11 volatile   

adj.反复无常的，挥发性的，稍纵即逝的，脾气火爆的；n.挥发性物质

参考例句：

• With the markets being so volatile,investments are at great risk.由于市场那么变化不定，投资冒着很大的风险。
• His character was weak and volatile.他这个人意志薄弱，喜怒无常。

12 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。

13 affordable   

adj.支付得起的，不太昂贵的

参考例句：

• The rent for the four-roomed house is affordable.四居室房屋的房租付得起。
• There are few affordable apartments in big cities.在大城市中没有几所公寓是便宜的。

14 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

15 prop   

vt.支撑；n.支柱，支撑物；支持者，靠山

参考例句：

• A worker put a prop against the wall of the tunnel to keep it from falling.一名工人用东西支撑住隧道壁好使它不会倒塌。
• The government does not intend to prop up declining industries.政府无意扶持不景气的企业。

16 havoc   

n.大破坏，浩劫，大混乱，大杂乱

参考例句：

• The earthquake wreaked havoc on the city.地震对这个城市造成了大破坏。
• This concentration of airborne firepower wrought havoc with the enemy forces.这次机载火力的集中攻击给敌军造成很大破坏。

17 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

18 volatility   

n.挥发性，挥发度，轻快，（性格）反复无常

参考例句：

• That was one reason why volatility was so low last year.这也是去年波动性如此低的原因之一。
• Yet because volatility remained low for so long,disaster myopia prevailed.然而，由于相当长的时间里波动性小，灾难短视就获胜了。

19 investor   

n.投资者，投资人

参考例句：

• My nephew is a cautious investor.我侄子是个小心谨慎的投资者。
• The investor believes that his investment will pay off handsomely soon.这个投资者相信他的投资不久会有相当大的收益。

20 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。

21 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。

22 optimist   

n.乐观的人，乐观主义者

参考例句：

• We are optimist and realist.我们是乐观主义者，又是现实主义者。
• Peter,ever the optimist,said things were bound to improve.一向乐观的皮特说，事情必定是会好转的。

23 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。

24 uncertainty   

n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物

参考例句：

• Her comments will add to the uncertainty of the situation.她的批评将会使局势更加不稳定。
• After six weeks of uncertainty,the strain was beginning to take its toll.6个星期的忐忑不安后，压力开始产生影响了。

25 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。