VOA常速英语2019--中国关税对美国龙虾出口的毁灭性影响（在线收听）

Chinese Tariffs’ Devastating Impact on US Lobster Exports

Tom Martin has been a lobster man for 35 years.

汤姆·马丁捕虾已经三十五年了。 

I started lobstering as a summer job as a kid when I was 14 and then lobster every summeruntil I went to college for about a year and then dropped out and started lobstering year round.

我十四岁的时候暑期工就开始捕龙虾，然后每年夏天都去捕龙虾，直到我上了一年大学，然后辍学，开始常年捕龙虾。

He says he enjoys what he does despite the hard work.

他说，尽管工作很辛苦，但他还是很享受自己的工作。 

Some years you catch a lot of lobsters, some years you don’t.

有些年你捕到很多龙虾，有些年捕不到很多。 

But you just worked as hard as you can and then let the chips fall where they may.

可是，你已经尽了最大的努力去工作，所以不管成败在哪里，你都得顺其自然。 

Lobstermen sell their catch to local wholesalers and restaurants like Luke’s Lobster in Portland Harbor which serves about 60 whole lobsters a day.

捕龙虾的人把捕到的龙虾卖给当地批发商和餐馆，比如波特兰港的卢克龙虾店，这家店每天供应大约六十只龙虾。

It is fresh to see and the price is really good.

它看起来很新鲜，价格也很好。 

But wholesalers like Sheila Adams of Maine coast who export live lobsters to overseas markets have not been so lucky.

但像缅因州海岸的希拉·亚当斯，向海外市场出口活龙虾的批发商就没那么幸运了。 

In July of 2018 China imposed retaliatory tariffs on US food and agricultural exports which included live lobsters.

二零一八年七月，中国对包括活龙虾在内的美国食品和农产品出口征收报复性关税。 

Adams said her business drop by 20% overnight.

亚当斯说她的生意一夜之间下降了百分之二十。 

About 80 percent of our sales into mainland China have gone away.

我们在中国大陆的销售额大约已经流失了百分之八十。 

That’s because the 25% tariff has to be paid by their Chinese customers who looked to Canada as an alternative source for their live lobsters.

这是因为百分之二十五的关税必须由他们的中国客户支付，这些客户已经把加拿大作为他们活龙虾的替代来源。

So Adams and her team had to look to other markets, both domestically and overseas to make up the difference.

因此，亚当斯和她的团队不得不将目光投向其他市场，包括国内和海外市场，以弥补收入差额。 

Today as fresh live lobsters arrive at their facility, they are processed, packaged and prepared for shipping to 29 other countries.

今天，当新鲜的活龙虾到达他们的工厂，他们被加工，包装和准备运往其他二十九个国家。 

It takes all of those other countries combined to equal one market in mainland China,so we had to put a tremendous amount of effort across many markets to try to recoup the the lost business in China.

所有这些国家加起来才相当于中国大陆的一个市场，所以我们不得不在许多市场投入大量努力，试图挽回在中国失去的生意。

Wade Merrit is president of the Maine international trade center and director of international trade for the state of Maine.

韦德·梅里特是缅因州国际贸易中心的总裁兼缅因州国际贸易主任。 

He says Maine coast is a good example of the impact of the tariffs on the industry.

他说缅因州海岸是关税对该行业影响的一个很好的例子。 

Exports of live lobster to China from Maine comparing between 2018 and 2019, they’re down 82%, so it has had a significant impact on that industry.

与二零一八年至二零一九年相比，缅因州对中国的活龙虾出口下降了百分之八十二，因此对该行业产生了重大影响。

And this has had a severe trickle-down effect.

这产生了严重的涓滴效应。 

Think about the corner store or the gas station or the schools or the anything in any of these communities that is a major lobster fishing port,if they are not fishing lobsters, then there is a real problem for those other businesses too.

想想街角的商店，加油站，学校，或者任何社区里的任何地方，作为一个主要的龙虾渔港，如果他们不捕捞龙虾，那么其他企业也会面临真正的问题。

He encourages companies to diversify and also continue nurturing existing relationships.

他鼓励企业实现多元化，并继续培育现有关系。 

Advice Sheila Adams agrees with.

希拉·亚当斯同意这个建议。 

Our relationships with our customers in China are really important to us.

我们与中国客户的关系对我们来说非常重要。 

They become good friends of ours and they look forward to the day when the tariff situation resolves and that we can go back to doing business together.

他们成为我们的好朋友，他们期待着关税问题得到解决的那一天，我们可以重新回到一起做生意。 

Let the free market economy come back to being and let trade happen.

让自由市场经济复苏，产生交易。 

And that will be good news for all who have made lobsters a focus of their daily lives.

这对所有把龙虾作为日常生活重点的人来说都是好消息。