美国国家公共电台 NPR Trump Imposes Tariffs On Steel And Aluminum From Brazil, Argentina

 

NOEL KING, HOST:

President Trump¹ is reimposing tariffs³ on steel and aluminum⁴ imported from Brazil and Argentina. The president announced that news on Twitter this morning. NPR chief economics correspondent Scott Horsley is here to explain what's going on. Hi, Scott.

SCOTT HORSLEY, BYLINE⁵: Good morning, Noel.

KING: OK, so Brazil and Argentina were exempted⁶ from steel and aluminum tariffs in the spring of 2018. What happened?

HORSLEY: In his tweets this morning, the president accused these two countries of what he called massive devaluation of their currencies. Cheaper currency does give these countries' exporters an advantage in international trade. And Brazil is a pretty big exporter of steel to the United States, Argentina less so. In his tweet, though, the president did not talk about that competition hurting domestic steelmakers. Rather, he referenced competition for U.S. farmers, who are obviously an important constituency of the president - political constituency. What's really been hurting farmers, along with some pretty bad weather, is the president's trade war with China. When China dialed back its purchases of U.S. soybeans, for example, during that trade war, it did look to countries like Brazil as an alternate source of supply.

KING: It seemed over the past few months that some of the tension over trade was cooling off. Were things not as they seemed?

HORSLEY: Yeah, you know, there had been some signs of progress. There's talk of a trade agreement being finalized⁷ with Mexico and Canada. There is talk about at least a mini trade deal with China. Investors⁸ on Wall Street have certainly embraced that, more or less pricing in the idea that trade peace could be close at hand. Now maybe that confidence was misplaced. You know, last week, I, spoke⁹ with a manufacturer in Minnesota who said that he's really being hurt by the tariffs - not just the cost but also the uncertainty¹⁰. He said it's hard to make a decision or an investment when tariff² policy can change with a tweet. And we got another reminder¹¹ of that possibility this morning.

KING: Now, in those same tweets this morning, the president also asked the Federal Reserve to take action. He mentioned currency manipulation, currency devaluation in Argentina and Brazil. What does he want our central bank, the U.S. central bank, to do?

HORSLEY: He wants the Fed to act so that other countries can't - what he said - take advantage of the strong dollar. This is an interesting request because, ordinarily, it's the Treasury¹² Department that steers¹³ U.S. currency policy, not the Federal Reserve. The central bank's mandate¹⁴ is stable prices and maximum employment, not driving down the dollar in an effort to boost exports. But the Fed does set interest rates. And, of course, that affects the value of the dollar. So in - what the president's really asking here in another set of words is what he's been asking for all along, which is for the Fed to lower interest rates even further. The central bank has already cut interest rates three times since July. And Fed officials are generally expected at this point to leave rates unchanged when they meet next week.

KING: Let me ask you to pull back 3,000 feet and get the larger view here. The president has long said that tariffs on imported steel and aluminum were going to help U.S. industries. Ultimately, is that what has happened here?

HORSLEY: Not really. You know, steelmakers did get an initial boost last year when the tariffs first went into effect, and the price of steel went up. Of course, that was hard on companies that use a lot of steel. And there's more of those than there are steelmakers. Since then, though, the price of steel has actually slumped¹⁵ again, partly as a result of falling demand. In the third quarter, U.S. Steel, for example, actually lost money. And it's announced layoffs¹⁶ of some workers. So the tariffs have created a lot of uncertainty, created a lot of angst, but they haven't necessarily been a lasting¹⁷ boost for domestic metalmakers.

KING: OK. And now some more uncertainty this morning for Brazil and Argentina. NPR's Scott Horsley. Scott, thanks so much for your time.

HORSLEY: You're welcome.

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 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 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。

4 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。

5 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。

6 exempted   

使免除[豁免]( exempt的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• His bad eyesight exempted him from military service. 他因视力不好而免服兵役。
• Her illness exempted her from the examination. 她因病而免试。

7 finalized   

vt.完成（finalize的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• The draft of this article has been finalized [done]. 这篇文章已经定稿。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The draft was revised several times before it was finalized. 稿子几经删改才定下来。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

8 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

9 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

10 uncertainty   

n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物

参考例句：

• Her comments will add to the uncertainty of the situation.她的批评将会使局势更加不稳定。
• After six weeks of uncertainty,the strain was beginning to take its toll.6个星期的忐忑不安后，压力开始产生影响了。

11 reminder   

n.提醒物，纪念品；暗示，提示

参考例句：

• I have had another reminder from the library.我又收到图书馆的催还单。
• It always took a final reminder to get her to pay her share of the rent.总是得发给她一份最后催缴通知，她才付应该交的房租。

12 treasury   

n.宝库；国库，金库；文库

参考例句：

• The Treasury was opposed in principle to the proposals.财政部原则上反对这些提案。
• This book is a treasury of useful information.这本书是有价值的信息宝库。

13 steers   

n.阉公牛，肉用公牛( steer的名词复数 )v.驾驶( steer的第三人称单数 )；操纵；控制；引导

参考例句：

• This car steers easily. 这部车子易于驾驶。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Good fodder fleshed the steers up. 优质饲料使菜牛长肉。 来自辞典例句

14 mandate   

n.托管地；命令，指示

参考例句：

• The President had a clear mandate to end the war.总统得到明确的授权结束那场战争。
• The General Election gave him no such mandate.大选并未授予他这种权力。

15 slumped   

大幅度下降，暴跌( slump的过去式和过去分词 )； 沉重或突然地落下[倒下]

参考例句：

• Sales have slumped this year. 今年销售量锐减。
• The driver was slumped exhausted over the wheel. 司机伏在方向盘上，疲惫得睡着了。

16 layoffs   

临时解雇( layoff的名词复数 )； 停工，停止活动

参考例句：

• Textile companies announced 2000 fresh layoffs last week. 各纺织公司上周宣布再次裁员两千人。
• Stock prices broke when the firm suddenly announced layoffs. 当公司突然宣布裁员时，股票价格便大跌

17 lasting   

adj.永久的，永恒的；vbl.持续，维持

参考例句：

• The lasting war debased the value of the dollar.持久的战争使美元贬值。
• We hope for a lasting settlement of all these troubles.我们希望这些纠纷能获得永久的解决。