美洲—墨西哥与加拿大共同指责美国在贸易上的不公平

Mexico, Canada Blame US for Unfairness in Trade

墨西哥与加拿大共同指责美国在贸易上的不公平

 

Boosting Mexican-Canadian trade and strong support for the North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) were the main points in a speech President Fox gave on Friday to the Vancouver Board of Trade. But Mr. Fox also made reference to a recent decision by the Bush Administration to ignore a NAFTA tribunal ruling on softwood lumber¹ imports from Canada.

 

The NAFTA tribunal ruled that a tariff² the U.S. government tariff had imposed on imported softwood lumber from Canada was illegal and said that the $5 billion collected in duties should be returned to Canadian lumber companies.

 

The Bush Administration maintains that Canadian softwood lumber is subsidized by different provincial³ governments and that the tariff is needed so that U.S. lumber can compete fairly.

 

While not referring to the incident directly, the Mexican president made it clear that he sided with Canada in the dispute. He said abiding⁴ by NAFTA rulings created a better business environment.

 

Vicente Fox: Mexico regrets any unilateral decisions that fail to abide⁵ by the decision of the arbitration⁶ panels where trade differences are discussed and aired. Mexico believes that through the correct implementation⁷ of the agreement, our countries will create better trade opportunities for our businessmen.

 

The issue dominated a joint⁸ news conference that Prime Minister Martin held with Mr. Fox following a meeting of Canadian and Mexican cabinet ministers and business leaders.

 

In his comments, the Canadian prime minister was more blunt than Mr. Fox. Mr. Martin said what the Bush Administration is doing is wrong and promised that Canada would continue its efforts to get the United States to return the money it has collected.

 

Paul Martin: Now, that should have ended and the $5 billion that is being held, that belongs to Canadian companies, should have been returned to those Canadian companies. That's the way the agreement should work. That's the way it was meant to work both in spirit and in the letter of the law. And it has been ignored by the Americans, and that is wrong. And we will take whatever actions are necessary in order to essentially⁹ make the letter and spirit of this agreement work.

 

In a written joint statement, Prime Minister Martin and President Fox discussed other issues, such as the importance of an elected UN Security Council, a western hemispheric free trade agreement, in addition to an upcoming climate change conference in Montreal.

 

The two leaders also received a report on the Canada-Mexico Partnership¹⁰, an arrangement between the two countries to strengthen ties between governmental agencies and private industry.

 

President Fox started his visit in Calgary, which is often referred to as Canada's energy capital. While there, he talked about energy and natural resources with business executives and academics.

 

Craig McCulloch for VOA news, Vancouver.

 

注释：

tribunal [tri5bju:nl] n. （特等）法庭

subsidize [5sQbsidaiz] v. 资助，津贴

unilateral [5ju:ni5lAtErEl] adj. 单方面，单边的，片面的

arbitration [7B:bi5treiFEn] n. 仲裁，公断

essentially [i5senFEli] adv. 本质上

1 lumber   

n.木材，木料；v.以破旧东西堆满；伐木；笨重移动

参考例句：

• The truck was sent to carry lumber.卡车被派出去运木材。
• They slapped together a cabin out of old lumber.他们利用旧木料草草地盖起了一间小屋。

2 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。

3 provincial   

adj.省的，地方的；n．外省人，乡下人

参考例句：

• City dwellers think country folk have provincial attitudes.城里人以为乡下人思想迂腐。
• Two leading cadres came down from the provincial capital yesterday.昨天从省里下来了两位领导干部。

4 abiding   

adj.永久的，持久的，不变的

参考例句：

• He had an abiding love of the English countryside.他永远热爱英国的乡村。
• He has a genuine and abiding love of the craft.他对这门手艺有着真挚持久的热爱。

5 abide   

vi.遵守；坚持；vt.忍受

参考例句：

• You must abide by the results of your mistakes.你必须承担你的错误所造成的后果。
• If you join the club,you have to abide by its rules.如果你参加俱乐部，你就得遵守它的规章。

6 arbitration   

n.调停，仲裁

参考例句：

• The wage disagreement is under arbitration.工资纠纷正在仲裁中。
• Both sides have agreed that the arbitration will be binding.双方都赞同仲裁具有约束力。

7 implementation   

n.实施，贯彻

参考例句：

• Implementation of the program is now well underway.这一项目的实施现在行情看好。

8 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

9 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

10 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。