VOA慢速英语2018 英国希望加入TPP（在线收听）

Britain Hopes to Join Pacific Trade Deal

British officials say they hope their country will one day join the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement.

英国官员表示，他们希望英国有一天会加入跨太平洋伙伴关系贸易协定（以下简称TPP）。

The TPP is currently being negotiated by 11 other countries. All 11 have a border facing either the Pacific Ocean or the South China Sea.

目前有11个国家参与TPP谈判。所有这11个国家都毗邻太平洋或是中国南海。

The British government hopes trade with fast-growing economies will make up for any losses that may take place after it leaves the European Union (EU).

英国政府希望同快速增长经济体的贸易能够弥补英国退出欧盟之后可能产生的任何损失。

Britain's withdrawal from the EU, known as Brexit, is expected in 2019.

英国预计在2019年退出欧盟。

On a recent trip to China, Britain's Trade Minister, Liam Fox, suggested his country might one day join the TPP.

英国贸易部长利亚姆·福克斯（Liam Fox）最近在访问中国时表示，英国可能某天会加入TPP。

"We don't know what the success of the TPP is going to yet look like, because it isn't yet negotiated," Fox said.

福克斯表示：“我们还不知道TPP最终将会怎样，因为它还没有协商完毕。”

"So, it would be a little bit premature for us to be wanting to sign up to something that we're not sure what the final details will look like. However, we have said that we want to be an open, outward-looking country, and therefore it would be foolish for us to rule out any particular outcomes for the future," he added.

他补充说，“对于我们来说，想要签署任何协议都有些不成熟，因为我们不确定最终的细节如何。然而我们说过，英国希望成为一个开放、外向型的国家，因此我们不排除未来的任何可能。”

London sits some 7,000 kilometers from any Pacific coastline. So, is geography no longer an issue in 21st century trade?

伦敦距离太平洋海岸线大约七千公里。那么，在21世纪贸易中，地域不再是一个问题了吗？

Not so, says economist Jonathan Portes. He works as a professor at Kings College London.

经济学家乔纳森·波特斯（Jonathan Portes）表示，情况并非如此。波特斯是伦敦国王学院的教授。

Portes says, "There has been an argument put forward that, particularly as trade in services expands, and as a result of technology, it will matter considerably less in the future, and that seems to make a lot of sense. So far at least, the actual data and evidence don't really support this contention. For whatever reason, geography at the moment seems to matter as much as it ever did," he added.

波特斯表示：“有人提出了这点，尤其是在服务贸易扩大的情况下。同时由于技术的原因，未来它的影响也会大大降低，这似乎是很有道理的。但是至少截至目前，实际数据和证据并不能真正支持这一论点。不管出于什么原因，目前地域似乎和以往一样重要。”

By withdrawing from the EU's Single Market and Customs Union, Britain will leave a free trade agreement that makes up about half of its foreign trade. By comparison, the 11 countries now negotiating the TPP combined accepted less than eight percent of all British exports last year.

英国退出欧盟的单一市场和关税联盟将会离开约占其一半对外贸易的自由贸易协定。相比之下，目前正在谈判TPP的11个国家去年一共接收了英国出口总额不到8%。

Portes said it will take many years for Britain to profit from other trade deals. He added that British companies have close ties with the European Union. He thinks there will likely be problems because of Brexit.

波特斯表示，英国从其它贸易协定中获益将会需要多年时间。他补充说，英国公司与欧盟有着密切关系。他认为英国脱欧可能会出现问题。

The countries negotiating the TPP include Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan and Mexico. The others are New Zealand, Malaysia, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam.

参与TPP谈判的国家包括澳大利亚、文莱、加拿大、智利、日本和墨西哥，另外还有新西兰、马来西亚、秘鲁、新加坡以及越南。

Barack Obama, former president of the United States, was a driving force behind TPP. But the next president, Donald Trump, pulled the United States out of the deal, saying it would be bad for America. Negotiations between the 11 remaining countries continue slowly.

美国前总统奥巴马是TPP背后的推动力量。但是下一任总统川普退出了TPP，称它对美国不利。剩余11个国家之间的谈判进展缓慢。

Because of the U.S. withdrawal, "the TPP has its own internal problems," said Portes, adding it will be a lot of work to fix those issues.

波特斯表示，由于美国退出，“TPP有自己内在的问题。”波特斯补充说，要解决这些问题需要花很多功夫。

But Britain's interest in the TPP has been welcomed by some of the countries involved, namely Australia.

但是英国对TPP的兴趣受到了一些TPP参与国家，也就是澳大利亚的欢迎。

British Prime Minister Theresa May is expected to visit Asia later this year in an attempt to strengthen relations before Brexit.

英国首相特蕾莎·梅预计今年晚些时候将会访问亚洲，她试图在退欧之前加强英国与亚洲的关系。

Words in this Story

premature – adj. happening too soon or earlier than usual

geography – n. an area of study that deals with the location of countries, cities, rivers, mountains, lakes, etc.

contention – n. something (such as a belief, opinion, or idea) that is argued or stated

outcome – n. results