环太平洋贸易协议前景未明

 　　WASHINGTON — With the U.S.-led war in Iraq ended and American military involvement in Afghanistan winding¹ down, President Barack Obama has sought to pivot² the country's foreign policy focus towards Asia. One aspect of that pivot is the negotiation³ of a free-trade agreement among 12 Pacific Rim⁴ nations. But as Obama leaves this week on a trip to four Asian countries -- Japan, South Korea, Malaysia and the Philippines -- he has found it very difficult to complete the trade pact⁵.

　　America makes cars that it ships around the world, and Japan does the same thing. U.S. farms sell their beef and pork to customers overseas. Japan exports its electronic consumer products to faraway countries.

　　This is all just a small part of the international trade that occurs each day.

　　Now, 12 countries around the Pacific Rim are negotiating ways to increase that trade, by cutting or ending tariffs⁶ and easing regulations.

　　The Trans-Pacific Partnership⁷, or TPP, is a pillar of President Barack Obama's engagement in Asia, and certain to be a key topic of discussion on his trip.

　　U.S. Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker says the trade deal is a top priority of the Obama administration.

　　"Opening markets across the Asia-Pacific region to U.S. exports and investment will help promote growth and jobs here in the United States in many ways," she said.

　　The 12 countries account for about 40 percent of the world's economy and 26 percent of its trade. But reaching a broad trade deal has proved so complicated that some nations are negotiating bilateral⁸ agreements.

　　Australia agreed this month to ease duties on Japanese electronic products, while Tokyo is curbing⁹ tariffs on Australian pork and beef exports.

　　The U.S. and Japan have engaged in tough talks on a deal of their own. U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman recently described the contentious¹⁰ negotiations¹¹.

　　"Our teams arrived expecting that the talks would be tough and our expectations have been met," he said. "We understand the challenges.

　　An overall trade pact could involve much more than tariffs on imported goods. It could cover banking¹² regulations, drug manufacturing, food safety rules and more.

　　A critic of the possible trade deal, Lori Wallach of Public Citizen's Global Trade Watch, says the complexity¹³ is one reason the agreement is taking so long.

　　"In every country these issues are controversial," she said. "So it’s not surprising by over-reaching and having so many countries, they’re having a very hard time in doing any one of those issues.”

　　The U.S.-led trade effort is partly aimed at displaying American interest in Asia at a time when the world's second biggest economy -- China -- is growing fast and could soon overtake the U.S. as the world's economic leader.

　　But China is not part of the trade talks.

　　Analyst¹⁴ Barbara Kotschwar is with the Washington-based Peterson Institute for International Economics:

　　“At the beginning was the fear a lot of people talked about, the 'C-word,' containment¹⁵, of China," she said. "I think that that fear has been diminished somewhat and we see the United States and China speaking about negotiating a bilateral investment treaty.”

　　But for now, even without China, 12 Pacific Rim countries are already having enough trouble reaching agreement on ways to collectively expand their economies.

1 winding   

n.绕，缠，绕组，线圈

参考例句：

• A winding lane led down towards the river.一条弯弯曲曲的小路通向河边。
• The winding trail caused us to lose our orientation.迂回曲折的小道使我们迷失了方向。

2 pivot   

v.在枢轴上转动；装枢轴，枢轴；adj.枢轴的

参考例句：

• She is the central pivot of creation and represents the feminine aspect in all things.她是创造的中心枢轴，表现出万物的女性面貌。
• If a spring is present,the hand wheel will pivot on the spring.如果有弹簧，手轮的枢轴会装在弹簧上。

3 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。

4 rim   

n.(圆物的)边，轮缘；边界

参考例句：

• The water was even with the rim of the basin.盆里的水与盆边平齐了。
• She looked at him over the rim of her glass.她的目光越过玻璃杯的边沿看着他。

5 pact   

n.合同，条约，公约，协定

参考例句：

• The two opposition parties made an electoral pact.那两个反对党订了一个有关选举的协定。
• The trade pact between those two countries came to an end.那两国的通商协定宣告结束。

6 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。

7 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。

8 bilateral   

adj.双方的，两边的，两侧的

参考例句：

• They have been negotiating a bilateral trade deal.他们一直在商谈一项双边贸易协定。
• There was a wide gap between the views of the two statesmen on the bilateral cooperation.对双方合作的问题，两位政治家各自所持的看法差距甚大。

9 curbing   

n.边石，边石的材料v.限制，克制，抑制( curb的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Progress has been made in curbing inflation. 在控制通货膨胀方面已取得了进展。
• A range of policies have been introduced aimed at curbing inflation. 为了抑制通货膨胀实施了一系列的政策。

10 contentious   

adj.好辩的，善争吵的

参考例句：

• She was really not of the contentious fighting sort.她委实不是好吵好闹的人。
• Since then they have tended to steer clear of contentious issues.从那时起，他们总想方设法避开有争议的问题。

11 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

12 banking   

n.银行业，银行学，金融业

参考例句：

• John is launching his son on a career in banking.约翰打算让儿子在银行界谋一个新职位。
• He possesses an extensive knowledge of banking.他具有广博的银行业务知识。

13 complexity   

n.复杂(性)，复杂的事物

参考例句：

• Only now did he understand the full complexity of the problem.直到现在他才明白这一问题的全部复杂性。
• The complexity of the road map puzzled me.错综复杂的公路图把我搞糊涂了。

14 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

15 containment   

n.阻止，遏制；容量

参考例句：

• Your list might include such things as cost containment,quality,or customer satisfaction.你的清单上应列有诸如成本控制、产品质量、客户满意程度等内容。
• Insularity and self-containment,it is argued,go hand in hand.他们争论说，心胸狭窄和自我封闭是并存的。