VOA慢速英语2018--美国将提高土耳其钢铝的关税

US to Increase Tariffs² on Turkish Aluminum³, Steel

President Donald Trump⁴ says the United States has decided⁵ to increase tariff¹ rates on Turkish steel and aluminum.

Trump announced the action Friday on Twitter.

The tariff for steel imported from Turkey will now be 50 percent. Import taxes for aluminum will be 20 percent. That is two times the level announced earlier this year in March.

The United States is the biggest destination for Turkish steel exports. Turkey answered the March tariff announcement by placing its own tariffs on $267 million of U.S. goods.

Turkey said it would respond to the new U.S. tariff action “without delay” and warned the move would further harm relations between the two countries.

Trump tweeted that the latest tariff decision came as Turkey’s currency, the lira, “slides rapidly downward against our very strong Dollar.”

The lira’s value fell about 13 percent against the dollar on Friday. The currency is down about 40 percent so far this year.

Economic experts believe the sharp fall of the lira is mainly because of concerns about the government’s economic policies. The weakened currency’s value has helped increase inflation⁶ and worried international investors⁷.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan won another term in office in June with expanded powers.

He has said Turkey’s economy remains⁸ strong, noting a 7.4 percent growth rate in the first three months of this year. But some investors fear the Turkish economy is growing too quickly and could face problems.

Erdogan has been putting pressure on the central bank not to raise interest rates in an attempt to help borrowers. But experts argue that the central bank should instead raise interest rates to ease inflation and to support the currency.

Erdogan has blamed outside forces for trying to bring down Turkey’s economy. On Friday, he said the country had to take steps in answer “to those who have waged an economic war against us.” He urged Turkish citizens to immediately exchange their gold and dollars for lira.

Relations "not good at this time"

In his tweet about the new tariffs, Trump said “Our relations with Turkey are not good at this time!”

One of the difficult issues affecting U.S.-Turkish relations is a dispute over an American clergyman who has been jailed in Turkey since December 2016.

Turkey has accused Andrew Craig Brunson of spying and “committing crimes on behalf of terror groups without being a member.” Brunson is on trial and faces up to 35 years in prison if he is found guilty.

The United States placed sanctions¹⁰ on two Turkish officials earlier this month because of Brunson’s case.

Erdogan said Turkey is not afraid of outside "threats." He added that the country will continue to enjoy good economic relations with several major nations. These include places "from Iran, to Russia, to China and some European countries," he said.

On Friday, Erdogan spoke¹¹ by telephone with Russian President Vladimir Putin. A Russian government statement said the two discussed economic and trade ties, including the success of several joint¹² projects.

I’m Bryan Lynn.

Words in This Story

tariff – n. a tax on goods coming into or leaving a country

destination – n. the place where someone or something is going

rapidly – adj. happening or moving very quickly

wage – v. to fight or organize in order to achieve something

commit – v. carry out or do something

behalf – n. someone’s interest or support

sanction⁹ – n. an order given to limit or stop trade under international law

1 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。

2 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。

3 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。

4 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。

5 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

6 inflation   

n.胀大，夸张，通货膨胀

参考例句：

• Gold prices are often seen as an indicator of inflation.黃金价格常常被看作是通货膨胀的指标。
• The inflation of the airbed took several minutes.给空气床垫充气花了几分钟时间。

7 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

8 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

9 sanction   

v.同意（某事），批准，认可；n.批准，国际制裁

参考例句：

• Prison is the best sanction against a crime like this.为遏止这类罪行，监禁手段是上策。
• Official sanction has not yet been given.尚未获得正式批准。

10 sanctions   

批准( sanction的名词复数 )； 认可； 制裁； 约束力

参考例句：

• There was general acquiescence in the UN sanctions. 普遍默认了联合国的制裁。
• Trade sanctions were imposed against any country that refused to sign the agreement. 凡拒签该协议的国家均受到贸易制裁。

11 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。

12 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。