纽约时报 新冠疫情威胁全球贸易(1)

Trade Networks Face New Menace In a Coronavirus.

新冠疫情威胁全球贸易

By Peter S. Goodman

文/皮特·S.古德曼

In 2002, when a lethal¹, pneumonialike virus known as SARS emerged in China,

2002年一种名为SARS，症状类似肺炎的致命病毒在中国出现时，

the country’s factories were mostly churning out low-cost goods like T-shirts and sneakers for customers around the world.

这个国家的工厂大多还停留在为世界各地的客户生产T恤衫和运动鞋等低成本产品的阶段。

Seventeen years later, another deadly virus is spreading rapidly through the world’s most populous² country.

17年后，又一种致命病毒迅速席卷了这个世界人口之最的国家。

But China has evolved into a principal element of the global economy,

问题是，此时的中国已经一跃成为全球经济最重要的一环，

making the epidemic³ a substantially more potent⁴ threat to fortunes.

以至于这次疫情对各国财富的影响远超前次非典。

International companies that rely on Chinese factories to make their products

不少由中国工厂供货或依赖中国消费市场的国际企业都已发出警告，

and depend on Chinese consumers for sales are already warning of costly⁵ problems.

称此次疫情将会带来沉重的代价。

Apple, Starbucks and Ikea have temporarily closed stores in China.

苹果、星巴克和宜家都已暂时关闭在华门店。

Shopping malls are deserted⁶, threatening sales of Nike sneakers, Under Armour⁷ clothing and McDonald’s hamburgers.

中国的各大商场都已空空荡荡，耐克运动鞋、安德玛服装和麦当劳汉堡的销售也都受到了威胁。

Factories making cars for General Motors and Toyota are delaying production

为通用、丰田等公司制造汽车的中国工厂也都已推迟生产，

as they wait for workers to return from the Lunar New Year holiday,

都在等待工人春节假期结束后返岗，

which has been extended by the government to halt the spread of the virus.

而为阻止病毒的传播，中国政府已经延长了本次春节假期。

International airlines, including American, Delta⁸, United, Lufthansa and British Airways⁹, have canceled flights to China.

美国航空、达美航空、美国联合航空、汉莎航空和英国航空等国际航空公司都已取消往返中国的航班。

China’s economic growth is expected to slip this year to 5.6 percent, down from 6.1 percent last year,

牛津经济研究院基于病毒目前造成的影响做出了保守预测，

according to a conservative forecast from Oxford¹⁰ Economics that is based on the impact of the virus so far.

预计2020年中国的经济增速将由去年的6.1%下滑至5.6%。

That would, in turn, reduce global economic growth for the year by 0.2 percent,

世界经济增速也会随之下滑0.2%，

to an annual rate of 2.3 percent — the slowest pace since the global financial crisis a decade ago.

放缓至2008年全球金融危机以来的最低增速——2.3%。

Returning from a long holiday for the first time since the coronavirus’s threat became clear,

随着冠状病毒的危害逐渐明朗，周一，也即春节长假后的首个交易日，

Chinese investors¹¹ sent shares in China down about 8 percent on Monday.

中国股市便大跌了近8%。

Stock markets around the world have plunged¹² in recent days

此次公共卫生危机或将严重冲击世界经济这一担忧已经深入人心，

as the sense takes hold that a public health crisis could morph into an economic shock.

故近日全球股市都已出现普遍下跌现象。

In a sign of deepening concern, China’s leaders on Sunday outlined plans to inject fresh credit into the economy.

周日，中国政府宣布了往该国经济注入新的信贷支持的计划，

That will include a net $22 billion to shore up money markets as well as looser borrowing terms for Chinese companies.

如为支持银行体系流动性，放宽向中国企业放贷的条件注入的220亿元净投放，可见其对此次疫情的担忧正在加剧。

Though China’s factories still produce a mind-bending array of relatively¹³ simple, low-value products like clothing and plastic goods,

尽管中国仍有一部分大量出产服装、塑料制品等工艺相对简单的低廉产品的工厂，

they have long since achieved dominance in more advanced and lucrative¹⁴ pursuits like smartphones, computers and auto¹⁵ parts.

但它们也早已占据了智能手机、计算机和汽车零部件等更先进、更有利可图的领域的主体地位。

The country has evolved into an essential part of the global supply chain, producing components¹⁶ needed by factories from Mexico to Malaysia.

该国已经成为全球供应链中至关重要的一环，远至墨西哥，近至马来西亚的工厂都在用该国供应的零部件。

China has also risen into an enormous consumer market,

中国的消费市场也已不容小觑，

a nation of 1.4 billion people with a growing appetite for electronic gadgets¹⁷, fashion apparel and trips to Disneyland.

这个有着14亿人口的人口大家对电子产品，时装、迪士尼乐园的兴趣也在与日俱增。

The trade war waged by the Trump¹⁸ administration has prompted a partial decoupling of the United States and China, the two largest economies on earth.

特朗普政府发动的贸易战一定程度上淡化了美中两国这两个世界最大经济体的关系。

Multinational¹⁹ companies that have used factories in China to make their wares²⁰

为规避美国的关税政策，从前与中国工厂合作的跨国公司

have sought to avoid American tariffs²¹ by shifting production to other countries — especially Vietnam.

本就已经开始往其他国家转移生产，尤其是越南。

The coronavirus might accelerate that trend, at least for a time, should global companies find themselves locked out of China.

如果跨国公司发现疫情影响了其在中国的发展，新冠病毒或许会加剧这一趋势，至少一段时间内会是如此。

1 lethal   

adj.致死的；毁灭性的

参考例句：

• A hammer can be a lethal weapon.铁锤可以是致命的武器。
• She took a lethal amount of poison and died.她服了致命剂量的毒药死了。

2 populous   

adj.人口稠密的，人口众多的

参考例句：

• London is the most populous area of Britain.伦敦是英国人口最稠密的地区。
• China is the most populous developing country in the world.中国是世界上人口最多的发展中国家。

3 epidemic   

n.流行病；盛行；adj.流行性的，流传极广的

参考例句：

• That kind of epidemic disease has long been stamped out.那种传染病早已绝迹。
• The authorities tried to localise the epidemic.当局试图把流行病限制在局部范围。

4 potent   

adj.强有力的，有权势的；有效力的

参考例句：

• The medicine had a potent effect on your disease.这药物对你的病疗效很大。
• We must account of his potent influence.我们必须考虑他的强有力的影响。

5 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

6 deserted   

adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的

参考例句：

• The deserted village was filled with a deathly silence.这个荒废的村庄死一般的寂静。
• The enemy chieftain was opposed and deserted by his followers.敌人头目众叛亲离。

7 armour   

（=armor）n.盔甲；装甲部队

参考例句：

• His body was encased in shining armour.他全身披着明晃晃的甲胄。
• Bulletproof cars sheathed in armour.防弹车护有装甲。

8 delta   

n.（流的）角洲

参考例句：

• He has been to the delta of the Nile.他曾去过尼罗河三角洲。
• The Nile divides at its mouth and forms a delta.尼罗河在河口分岔，形成了一个三角洲。

9 AIRWAYS   

航空公司

参考例句：

• The giant jets that increasingly dominate the world's airways. 越来越称雄于世界航线的巨型喷气机。
• At one point the company bought from Nippon Airways a 727 jet. 有一次公司从日本航空公司买了一架727型喷气机。

10 Oxford   

n.牛津（英国城市）

参考例句：

• At present he has become a Professor of Chemistry at Oxford.他现在已是牛津大学的化学教授了。
• This is where the road to Oxford joins the road to London.这是去牛津的路与去伦敦的路的汇合处。

11 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

12 plunged   

v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降

参考例句：

• The train derailed and plunged into the river. 火车脱轨栽进了河里。
• She lost her balance and plunged 100 feet to her death. 她没有站稳，从100英尺的高处跌下摔死了。

13 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

14 lucrative   

adj.赚钱的，可获利的

参考例句：

• He decided to turn his hobby into a lucrative sideline.他决定把自己的爱好变成赚钱的副业。
• It was not a lucrative profession.那是一个没有多少油水的职业。

15 auto   

n.(=automobile)(口语)汽车

参考例句：

• Don't park your auto here.别把你的汽车停在这儿。
• The auto industry has brought many people to Detroit.汽车工业把许多人吸引到了底特律。

16 components   

（机器、设备等的）构成要素，零件，成分； 成分( component的名词复数 )； [物理化学]组分； [数学]分量； （混合物的）组成部分

参考例句：

• the components of a machine 机器部件
• Our chemistry teacher often reduces a compound to its components in lab. 在实验室中化学老师常把化合物分解为各种成分。

17 gadgets   

n.小机械，小器具（ gadget的名词复数 ）

参考例句：

• Certainly. The idea is not to have a house full of gadgets. 当然。设想是房屋不再充满小配件。 来自超越目标英语 第4册
• This meant more gadgets and more experiments. 这意味着要设计出更多的装置，做更多的实验。 来自英汉非文学 - 科学史

18 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。

19 multinational   

adj.多国的，多种国籍的；n.多国籍公司，跨国公司

参考例句：

• The firm was taken over by a multinational consulting firm.这家公司被一个跨国咨询公司收购。
• He analyzed the relationship between multinational corporations and under-developed countries.他分析了跨国公司和不发达国家之间的关系。

20 wares   

n. 货物, 商品

参考例句：

• They sold their wares at half-price. 他们的货品是半价出售的。
• The peddler was crying up his wares. 小贩极力夸耀自己的货物。

21 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。