特朗普声称“贸易战很好,我们很容易取胜。”

Trump¹: Trade Wars Are Good, Easy to Win

President Donald Trump is defending his plan to raise taxes on steel and aluminum² imports entering the United States.

Trump declared on Friday that “trade wars are good, and easy to win” -- a claim that some Americans were quick to criticize. The critics include members of his own Republican Party.

Trump has said that the U.S. government would set punishing tariffs⁴ on steel and aluminum imports. Such a move would increase tensions with China and other countries. They also would raise the possibility of higher prices for American businesses and consumers.

Early Friday, Trump took to the Twitter social networking service to defend himself. He wrote: “When a country (USA) is losing many billions of dollars on trade with…every country it does business with, trade wars are good, and easy to win. Example, when we are down $100 billion with a certain country and they get cute, don’t trade anymore-we win big. It’s easy!”

He later tweeted: “Our steel industry is in bad shape. IF YOU DON’T HAVE STEEL, YOU DON’T HAVE A COUNTRY!”

His announcement came only after an intense debate among his top aides. It brought strong criticism from some Republicans and financial markets concerned about tariffs and their effect on the economy.

The president asked heads of aluminum and steel companies to the White House Thursday. He announced plans to set tariffs of 25 percent on imported steel and 10 percent on aluminum imports next week. He added that the tariffs would remain for “a long period of time.”

The Associated Press says it was not immediately clear if the taxes would affect all trading partners.

Around the world, Trump’s words led to criticism from the president of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker. He rejected the plan as a clear intervention⁶ to protect U.S. domestic industry. Juncker said the EU would take steps to punish the U.S. if Trump followed through.

China’s Commerce Ministry⁷ said it was seriously concerned about Trump’s plan. The ministry said China has satisfied its trade agreements and appealed to the U.S. government to settle disputes through negotiation⁸.

China has received many complaints from the United States, Europe and other trading partners. They accuse the Chinese government of unfairly supporting Chinese exports and restricting the Chinese market in violation⁹ of its free-trade promises.

Canada is the largest provider of steel and aluminum imports in the U.S. The Canadian government said it would “take responsive measures” to defend the country’s trade interests and workers if the tariffs affected¹⁰ Canadian steel and aluminum products.

Critics warned Trump’s tariffs may lead to a trade war. They suggested other countries will take action to punish the United States or use national security as a reason to set their own trade rules.

Trump’s move will possibly raise steel and aluminum prices in the U.S. That is good news for American companies, but bad for companies that use the metals, such as manufacturers of beer and air conditioning equipment. The American International Automobile¹¹ Dealers¹² Association said the tariffs could cause the cost of a car to rise a lot.

Wendy Cutler, a former U.S. trade official, noted¹³ “What benefits one industry can hurt another. What saves one job can jeopardize¹⁴ another.” Cutler is now vice⁵ president of the Asia Society Policy Institute.

American companies said steel tariffs announced in 2002 by then President George W. Bush destroyed 200,000 U.S. jobs.

The new tariffs were requested by Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and White House trade adviser¹⁵ Peter Navarro.

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said the decision “shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone,” saying that the president had been talking about it for many years. Trump has long accused China and others of what he calls unfair trade.

But some Republicans in Congress were angry.

Senator Ben Sasse of Nebraska said the tariffs were a “tax increase on American families.” Sasse noted that he would expect Democratic Party lawmakers to set trade tariffs, not Republicans.

House Speaker Paul Ryan, a Republican from Wisconsin, said through a spokesman he hoped Trump would consider the effects of a trade war.

I'm Bryan Lynn.

Words in This Story

tariff³ – n. a tax on goods coming into or leaving a country

consumer – n. a person who buys goods and services

cute – adj. clearly causing an harmful effect

domestic – adj. relating to or coming from within a country

complaint – n. criticism

responsive – adj. quick to react, often with a sympathetic reaction

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 aluminum   

n.(aluminium)铝

参考例句：

• The aluminum sheets cannot be too much thicker than 0.04 inches.铝板厚度不能超过0.04英寸。
• During the launch phase,it would ride in a protective aluminum shell.在发射阶段，它盛在一只保护的铝壳里。

3 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。

4 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。

5 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

6 intervention   

n.介入，干涉，干预

参考例句：

• The government's intervention in this dispute will not help.政府对这场争论的干预不会起作用。
• Many people felt he would be hostile to the idea of foreign intervention.许多人觉得他会反对外来干预。

7 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

8 negotiation   

n.谈判，协商

参考例句：

• They closed the deal in sugar after a week of negotiation.经过一星期的谈判，他们的食糖生意成交了。
• The negotiation dragged on until July.谈判一直拖到7月份。

9 violation   

n.违反(行为)，违背(行为)，侵犯

参考例句：

• He roared that was a violation of the rules.他大声说，那是违反规则的。
• He was fined 200 dollars for violation of traffic regulation.他因违反交通规则被罚款200美元。

10 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

11 automobile   

n.汽车，机动车

参考例句：

• He is repairing the brake lever of an automobile.他正在修理汽车的刹车杆。
• The automobile slowed down to go around the curves in the road.汽车在路上转弯时放慢了速度。

12 dealers   

n.商人( dealer的名词复数 )；贩毒者；毒品贩子；发牌者

参考例句：

• There was fast bidding between private collectors and dealers. 私人收藏家和交易商急速竞相喊价。
• The police were corrupt and were operating in collusion with the drug dealers. 警察腐败，与那伙毒品贩子内外勾结。

13 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

14 jeopardize   

vt.危及，损害

参考例句：

• Overworking can jeopardize your health.工作过量可能会危及你的健康。
• If you are rude to the boss it may jeopardize your chances of success.如果你对上司无礼，那就可能断送你成功的机会。

15 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。