美国国家公共电台 NPR Shaky U.S.-China Trade Relationship Will Top Trump's Agenda In Beijing

 

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

All right. President Trump¹ arrived in Beijing a short time ago. Our colleague, Steve Inskeep, is there, too.

STEVE INSKEEP, BYLINE²: The president's visit here to China is the centerpiece of his journey through East Asia, and one central theme is trade. NPR's Rob Schmitz has been covering that story for years. He's on the line. Hi, Rob.

ROB SCHMITZ, BYLINE: Hey, Steve.

INSKEEP: So the president has been saying he wants a better deal for the United States. What's the deal that American companies face now in China?

SCHMITZ: Well, I think a lot of companies would complain about the deal that they face. You know, China boasts the world's largest consumer class, so it is an alluring³ market. But for more and more U.S. companies, the cost of doing business here is getting harder and harder to justify⁴.

INSKEEP: Hasn't the Trump administration already said they're making progress? They made an announcement about beef exports not long ago.

SCHMITZ: Yeah, that's right. One of Trump's early victories in his presidency⁵ was getting the Chinese to lift a 14-year ban on the sale of U.S. beef in China. And being able to sell beef to 600 million consumers is a huge deal. And I was trying to figure out, OK, so how big of a deal is this?

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

SCHMITZ: So I went to city'super, one of the most upscale grocery stores in the city. It's sort of like a cross between Whole Foods and Louis Vuitton set to soft lounge music. But for how well-off these shoppers are, one look at the price of an American steak is enough to conjure⁶ a mental scratch of a needle across this soothing⁷ soundtrack - $50 for a pound of USDA rib-eye prime. Wang Yansong is manager of the meat purchasing department of city'super.

WANG YANSONG: (Through interpreter) That's around 30 percent more expensive than the best steak from Australia. We hope the price will come down so that we can sell more of it. We now sell a ton of it each month.

SCHMITZ: Wang says he sells nine tons of Australian steak per month. So why is U.S. beef so expensive in China? Jason Hafemeister, trade counsel to the secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, says it's because it's a hot commodity.

JASON HAFEMEISTER: There is still limited supply. It's trickling⁸ into China as we're ramping⁹ up, so supply and demand, valued product. And then people are able to charge more and find customers who'll pay for it.

SCHMITZ: But there are other reasons, reasons that get at the heart of the shaky trade relationship between the U.S. and China. China imposes a 12 percent tariff¹⁰ on U.S. beef, yet our biggest beef competitors in China, Australia and New Zealand, have both signed free trade agreements with Beijing, pushing down their tariffs¹¹ to around 4 percent. That's meant Australia sold more than half a billion dollars' worth of beef to China last year, whereas the U.S. hopes it can sell just $20 million worth by the end of this year.

James McGregor, president of the Greater China region for APCO, says the lifting of the U.S. beef ban in China is the latest case of too little, too late. And he's not optimistic the Trump administration is focused enough to improve business for U.S. companies in China.

JAMES MCGREGOR: There is no strategy and the professionals are not involved. The people from USTR and commerce and state are sidelined.

SCHMITZ: That's the U.S. trade representative and other staff that typically deal with China. Instead, he says, Trump has political appointees with little to no trade experience engaging with the Chinese.

MCGREGOR: It's really been a farce¹². And if it continues like this, it's really going to hurt American business. And the Chinese are pros¹³. You know, they know what they're doing. They - anybody sitting on the other side of the table as a Chinese negotiator has been doing that subject for 20 years.

SCHMITZ: McGregor says Chinese negotiators have called friends of his in Beijing to see what the Chinese side could give to Trump during his Beijing visit to please his base. He calls these twitterable (ph) deliverables and he puts the lifting of the Chinese ban on U.S. beef in this category - an easily promotable gift that, because it's come so late, may not have a meaningful impact on the U.S. economy.

What would, says William Zarit, chair of the American Chamber¹⁴ of Commerce in China, is forcing China to open its markets to U.S. business and to stop giving preferential treatment to Beijing's own so-called global champion companies - companies like tech giants Baidu and Tencent and telecoms company Huawei, which have all received generous support from Beijing.

WILLIAM ZARIT: These global champions are being nurtured¹⁵ in the domestic market with protection and with strong state support. So that in some ways when these companies go international, it's tantamount to a Western company competing with a country.

SCHMITZ: And when U.S. companies come to China, they're often forced to hand over their technology and enter into joint¹⁶ ventures with Chinese partners. U.S. companies in at least 10 sectors¹⁷, including automotive, health care, tech and entertainment, have investment caps preventing them from competing with Chinese companies on a fair playing field. Chinese companies in these sectors have no such caps in the U.S. market.

Each year, AmCham surveys executives of hundreds of U.S. companies in China with simple, straightforward¹⁸ questions like...

ZARIT: Do you feel welcome in China? And the statistic¹⁹ was over 80 percent of our companies felt less welcome in China that they did in the past. I think this is quite compelling.

SCHMITZ: This year's survey also found 40 percent of respondents saying their companies were slowing their investment in China as a result of unfair treatment. This, says Zarit, is what Trump should focus on in his meetings with the Chinese this week.

APCO’s James McGregor says Trump should also focus on how Chinese companies, many backed by state funding, are acquiring U.S. companies at an alarming rate.

MCGREGOR: Chinese are smart. They're investing in everything in the Silicon²⁰ Valley right now. And in some case, it - when the Chinese invest in something that prevents the U.S. government from investing in it, they're blocking some technologies from our military.

SCHMITZ: Earlier this year, a Pentagon report warned of a surge of Chinese investment in Silicon Valley startups that were essentially²¹ blocking the latest technologies from being sold to the U.S. government.

MCGREGOR: We pride ourselves on our openness and rule of law, and now that is a weakness when you've got this machine coming at you.

SCHMITZ: According to the report commissioned by former U.S. Secretary of Defense²² Ashton Carter, quote, "the U.S. government does not have a holistic²³ view how fast this technology transfer is occurring, the level of Chinese investment in U.S. technology or what technologies we should be protecting," unquote. A Pentagon tech specialist told McGregor the report has been removed from the internet at the request of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff. Rob Schmitz, NPR News, Shanghai.

(SOUNDBITE OF STEV FEAT²⁴. JHON MONTOYA'S "SLOWMOTION FALLING")

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 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

3 alluring   

adj.吸引人的，迷人的

参考例句：

• The life in a big city is alluring for the young people. 大都市的生活对年轻人颇具诱惑力。
• Lisette's large red mouth broke into a most alluring smile. 莉莎特的鲜红的大嘴露出了一副极为诱人的微笑。

4 justify   

vt.证明…正当(或有理)，为…辩护

参考例句：

• He tried to justify his absence with lame excuses.他想用站不住脚的借口为自己的缺席辩解。
• Can you justify your rude behavior to me?你能向我证明你的粗野行为是有道理的吗？

5 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。

6 conjure   

v.恳求，祈求；变魔术，变戏法

参考例句：

• I conjure you not to betray me.我恳求你不要背弃我。
• I can't simply conjure up the money out of thin air.我是不能像变魔术似的把钱变来。

7 soothing   

adj.慰藉的；使人宽心的；镇静的

参考例句：

• Put on some nice soothing music.播放一些柔和舒缓的音乐。
• His casual, relaxed manner was very soothing.他随意而放松的举动让人很快便平静下来。

8 trickling   

n.油画底色含油太多而成泡沫状突起v.滴( trickle的现在分词 )；淌；使)慢慢走；缓慢移动

参考例句：

• Tears were trickling down her cheeks. 眼泪顺着她的面颊流了下来。
• The engine was trickling oil. 发动机在滴油。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 ramping   

土堤斜坡( ramp的现在分词 )； 斜道； 斜路； （装车或上下飞机的）活动梯

参考例句：

• The children love ramping about in the garden. 孩子们喜欢在花园里追逐嬉戏，闹着玩。
• Have you ever seen a lion ramping around? 你看到过狮子暴跳吗？

10 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。

11 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。

12 farce   

n.闹剧，笑剧，滑稽戏；胡闹

参考例句：

• They played a shameful role in this farce.他们在这场闹剧中扮演了可耻的角色。
• The audience roared at the farce.闹剧使观众哄堂大笑。

13 pros   

abbr.prosecuting 起诉；prosecutor 起诉人；professionals 自由职业者；proscenium （舞台）前部n.赞成的意见( pro的名词复数 )；赞成的理由；抵偿物；交换物

参考例句：

• The pros and cons cancel out. 正反两种意见抵消。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• We should hear all the pros and cons of the matter before we make a decision. 我们在对这事做出决定之前，应该先听取正反两方面的意见。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 chamber   

n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所

参考例句：

• For many,the dentist's surgery remains a torture chamber.对许多人来说，牙医的治疗室一直是间受刑室。
• The chamber was ablaze with light.会议厅里灯火辉煌。

15 nurtured   

养育( nurture的过去式和过去分词 )； 培育； 滋长； 助长

参考例句：

• She is looking fondly at the plants he had nurtured. 她深情地看着他培育的植物。
• Any latter-day Einstein would still be spotted and nurtured. 任何一个未来的爱因斯坦都会被发现并受到培养。

16 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。

17 sectors   

n.部门( sector的名词复数 )；领域；防御地区；扇形

参考例句：

• Berlin was divided into four sectors after the war. 战后柏林分成了4 个区。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Industry and agriculture are the two important sectors of the national economy. 工业和农业是国民经济的两个重要部门。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

18 straightforward   

adj.正直的，坦率的；易懂的，简单的

参考例句：

• A straightforward talk is better than a flowery speech.巧言不如直说。
• I must insist on your giving me a straightforward answer.我一定要你给我一个直截了当的回答。

19 statistic   

n.统计量；adj.统计的，统计学的

参考例句：

• Official statistics show real wages declining by 24%.官方统计数字表明实际工资下降了24%。
• There are no reliable statistics for the number of deaths in the battle.关于阵亡人数没有可靠的统计数字。

20 silicon   

n.硅(旧名矽)

参考例句：

• This company pioneered the use of silicon chip.这家公司开创了使用硅片的方法。
• A chip is a piece of silicon about the size of a postage stamp.芯片就是一枚邮票大小的硅片。

21 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。

22 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

23 holistic   

adj.从整体着眼的，全面的

参考例句：

• There is a fundamental ambiguity in the use of word "whole" in recent holistic literature.在近代的整体主义著作中，“整体”这个词的用法极其含混。
• In so far as historicism is technological,its approach is not piecemeal,but "holistic".仅就历史决定论是一种技术而论，它的方法不是渐进的，而是“整体主义的”。

24 feat   

n.功绩；武艺，技艺；adj.灵巧的，漂亮的，合适的

参考例句：

• Man's first landing on the moon was a feat of great daring.人类首次登月是一个勇敢的壮举。
• He received a medal for his heroic feat.他因其英雄业绩而获得一枚勋章。