美国国家公共电台 NPR Laredo, Texas, Now No. 1 U.S. Trade Hub, Braces For Trump's Mexico Tariffs

 

DON GONYEA, HOST:

President Trump¹ has threatened to impose tariffs³ on all goods imported from Mexico beginning June 10. That has the border city of Laredo, Texas, preparing for a rush of importers trying to get their goods into the country. Texas Public Radio's Reynaldo Leanos Jr. reports.

REYNALDO LEANOS JR., BYLINE⁴: Ernesto Gaytan is the general manager of Super Transport International Laredo, a company founded by his father in Mexico almost 30 years ago. Today he's wearing a black fitted suit in 90 degree Texas heat. Gaytan walks around the operations field.

ERNESTO GAYTAN: This is where a lot of the transloads happen. We move materials from a trailer coming in from the United States going into Mexico. We transfer freight from one - from a U.S. carrier to a Mexico carrier or from a Mexican carrier to a U.S. carrier going northbound. They could be either way.

LEANOS: The international trade at Laredo's port recently catapulted it past Los Angeles to become the number one port in the country.

GAYTAN: Laredo is a town that exists because of the location and the closeness that we have with Mexico and the United States.

LEANOS: About $20 billion worth of goods flowed through during the month of March, mostly automotive parts. President Trump is threatening to implement⁵ a 5% tariff² on all goods coming from Mexico starting June 10. The president says he'll gradually increase the tariff to 25% if Mexico doesn't do more to stop illegal immigration. Gaytan says a tariff could impact his trucking company and jobs across the country.

GAYTAN: There are companies that 5% is what their margin⁶ is going to be. So you're talking about companies that are not going to be able to ship anymore. So what's that going to do? It's going to shrink the capacity. It's going to shrink the market.

LEANOS: Gaytan and other business owners are concerned there will be even longer lines at the ports of entry because many companies might try to double their average of shipments before the June 10 deadline. Laredo has already been experiencing record wait times that can be hours long. This was recently exacerbated⁷ when the Trump administration reassigned 300 CBP officers from ports of entry to help process asylum⁸ claims. And adding to the fear of the business community has been President Trump's threats to close the border entirely⁹.

GAYTAN: For us, I did the numbers, and we would lose about $270,000 a day if the border shuts down.

LEANOS: At a recent town hall, Gaytan and other local businesses asked CBP if they are ready to handle an increase of shipments before the June 10 tariff deadline.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

BRENDA SMITH: I would tell you not today, but tomorrow.

LEANOS: Brenda Smith is the executive assistant commissioner¹⁰ with the Office of Trade at CBP.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

SMITH: You have got to have your eyes open and your powder dry at all times because the situation changes so quickly.

LEANOS: And that's a problem, says Gerry Schwebel, the executive vice¹¹ president of IBC Bank based in Laredo. Schwebel worked on NAFTA and the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement. He says a tariff further strains the U.S.'s relationship with Mexico, especially when trying to pass USMCA, also known as NAFTA 2.0.

GERRY SCHWEBEL: This is not good, and it's not in the spirit of open relationships with our largest trading partner, which is Mexico. They will always be our neighbor. We can't be in any way threatening or trying to coerce¹² our partners to do certain things.

LEANOS: Schwebel says border communities like Laredo will be hit hard if the tariffs take effect, but the consumer will ultimately pay the price. Laredo Mayor Pete Saenz is proud his city is now the nation's busiest trade hub and wants to keep it that way, but for that to continue, he wants to see the president separate the issue of trade and immigration.

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 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。

5 implement   

n.(pl.)工具，器具；vt.实行，实施，执行

参考例句：

• Don't undertake a project unless you can implement it.不要承担一项计划，除非你能完成这项计划。
• The best implement for digging a garden is a spade.在花园里挖土的最好工具是铁锹。

6 margin   

n.页边空白；差额；余地，余裕；边，边缘

参考例句：

• We allowed a margin of 20 minutes in catching the train.我们有20分钟的余地赶火车。
• The village is situated at the margin of a forest.村子位于森林的边缘。

7 exacerbated   

v.使恶化，使加重( exacerbate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The symptoms may be exacerbated by certain drugs. 这些症状可能会因为某些药物而加重。
• The drugs they gave her only exacerbated the pain. 他们给她吃的药只是加重了她的痛楚。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 asylum   

n.避难所，庇护所，避难

参考例句：

• The people ask for political asylum.人们请求政治避难。
• Having sought asylum in the West for many years,they were eventually granted it.他们最终获得了在西方寻求多年的避难权。

9 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

10 commissioner   

n.（政府厅、局、处等部门）专员，长官，委员

参考例句：

• The commissioner has issued a warrant for her arrest.专员发出了对她的逮捕令。
• He was tapped for police commissioner.他被任命为警务处长。

11 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。

12 coerce   

v.强迫，压制

参考例句：

• You can't coerce her into obedience.你不能强制她服从。
• Do you think there is any way that we can coerce them otherwise?你认为我们有什么办法强迫他们不那样吗？