亚洲国家担忧美国对贸易协议的不作为

AS IT IS 2015-06-18 Asian Countries Concerned about US Inaction on Trade Deal 亚洲国家担忧美国对贸易协议的不作为

The U.S. House of Representatives voted against a measure last Friday that would permit the president to “fast track” trade legislation. The measure is called Trade Promotion¹ Authority.

The bill would have required Congress only to vote for or against trade legislation without the ability to amend² the agreement. The vote was a setback³ for President Barack Obama. He said the failure to pass the bill would directly hurt 100,000 American jobs.

Although a new vote could take place as early as Friday, Republican leaders in the House are seeking to delay the vote until July.

Trade Promotion Authority seen as important to free-trade deal

Trade Promotion Authority is considered an important step toward approval of a free trade agreement for the Asia-Pacific area. Approval of Trade Promotion Authority, or TPA, is considered extremely important to passage of a new Asia free-trade accord. Many countries in the area are watching what is happening in Washington closely.

On Monday, Singapore’s Minister for Foreign Affairs, K. Shanmugam, warned that the United States faces, in his words, a ‘stark⁴ choice’ over its future in the Asia-Pacific region. 

Mr. Shanmugam spoke⁵ to the Washington-based Centers for Strategic and International Studies. He says it is very important to complete the negotiations⁶ on the Trans-Pacific Partnership⁷ (TPP) free-trade agreement that have lasted for years.  He adds most of this century’s economic growth will come from Asia:

"Everyone knows China. But there are other parts of the story, India, Southeast Asia.  ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations), the 10 countries of ASEAN together are the seventh largest economy in the world, something that not a lot of people realize -- two-point-four trillion dollars today but, within five years, it will be four-trillion (dollars)."

Mr. Shanmugam says the Asia-Pacific region needs development of air and seaports⁸, railways, roads and other infrastructure⁹. The region needs industries such as energy and information technology.

Difficult choices on trade

The foreign minister says the United States faces a choice:

"In all of this, where is the United States?  It’s been the guarantor of peace; it’s been the guarantor of progress and prosperity up to now.  If you don’t do this deal, what are your levers of power?”

Singapore expert Michael Barr is with Australia’s Flinders University School of International Studies. He says the perception of political lack of action and rising economic nationalism in Washington concerns America’s traditional Asian allies.  He says they would be unwilling¹⁰ to reach agreement on TPP without fast-track authority because it means Congress could amend the agreement.

"Singaporeans in particular, it’s not just them, are very concerned with managing the rise of China, and Singapore knows that they have extremely limited capacity to do anything themselves about managing the rise of China. All they can do is manage their response to it, and they really look to the Americans."

Michael Barr says countries are concerned about losing faith in America.  He says the real worry in Asia is that the Americans will show themselves unable to doing anything effective, even something minimal¹¹ like signing a free trade agreement.

U.S. House Republican leaders say they need more time to build Congressional support for Trade Promotion Authority. An agreement will have to have support from both parties. A measure approved by the Senate for job retraining funding called Trade Adjustment Assistance was among the measures defeated Friday. Few Democrats¹² supported the measure.

White House spokesman Josh Earnest said Monday the longer the process takes, the harder it will be to build bipartisan support.

The president faces opposition¹³ from his own Democratic Party over fast-track authority. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Democratic 2016 presidential candidate Hillary Clinton have questioned the legislation.

Words in This Story

accord –n. an agreement

stark –adj. appearing without anything addition, notably¹⁴ plain

perception – n. the way a person thinks about or understands something

bipartisan – adj. involving two parties

1 promotion   

n.提升，晋级；促销，宣传

参考例句：

• The teacher conferred with the principal about Dick's promotion.教师与校长商谈了迪克的升级问题。
• The clerk was given a promotion and an increase in salary.那个职员升了级，加了薪。

2 amend   

vt.修改，修订，改进；n.[pl.]赔罪，赔偿

参考例句：

• The teacher advised him to amend his way of living.老师劝他改变生活方式。
• You must amend your pronunciation.你必须改正你的发音。

3 setback   

n.退步，挫折，挫败

参考例句：

• Since that time there has never been any setback in his career.从那时起他在事业上一直没有遇到周折。
• She views every minor setback as a disaster.她把每个较小的挫折都看成重大灾难。

4 stark   

adj.荒凉的；严酷的；完全的；adv.完全地

参考例句：

• The young man is faced with a stark choice.这位年轻人面临严峻的抉择。
• He gave a stark denial to the rumor.他对谣言加以完全的否认。

5 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。

6 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。

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 seaports   

n.海港( seaport的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Airports have joined seaports as ports of entry for the visiting foreigner. 机场和海港一样成为来访的外国人的入境关口。 来自互联网
• Sanya has 16 seaports, 10 islands and 180km of coastline. 三亚有16个港口、10个海岛和180公里的海岸线。 来自互联网

9 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

10 unwilling   

adj.不情愿的

参考例句：

• The natives were unwilling to be bent by colonial power.土著居民不愿受殖民势力的摆布。
• His tightfisted employer was unwilling to give him a raise.他那吝啬的雇主不肯给他加薪。

11 minimal   

adj.尽可能少的，最小的

参考例句：

• They referred to this kind of art as minimal art.他们把这种艺术叫微型艺术。
• I stayed with friends, so my expenses were minimal.我住在朋友家，所以我的花费很小。

12 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

14 notably   

adv.值得注意地，显著地，尤其地，特别地

参考例句：

• Many students were absent,notably the monitor.许多学生缺席，特别是连班长也没来。
• A notably short,silver-haired man,he plays basketball with his staff several times a week.他个子明显较为矮小，一头银发，每周都会和他的员工一起打几次篮球。