VOA标准英语2010年-Sarkozy Expected to Decry US Protectio

A planned state visit to Washington  by French President Nicolas Sarkozy at the end of March may be overshadowed by European allegations of protectionism against the U.S.  Leaders of France, Britain and Germany accuse the U.S. Defense¹ Department of altering specifications² for a $40-billion dollar military contract, leaving Chicago-based Boeing as the sole bidder³.  U.S. firm Northrop Grumman and the European Aeronautic⁴ Defense and Space Company (EADS) withdrew their bids earlier this month. Industry experts say the European move could have repercussions⁵ for US manufacturers.

When the U.S. Defense Department issued a tender to replace its aging fleet of aerial refueling tankers⁶, few imagined the international problems it would create. 

"I've never seen anything like this in 25 years of looking at defense contracts," said  aerospace⁷ consultant⁸ Richard Aboulafia at Virginia based Teal Group Corporation. He said some of the planes, which were designed to refuel military jets in mid-air, are more than 50-years-old. "Even if you started replacing them now, by the time you got to the last of them, those would be 75 years old," he said.

Northrop Grumman, in partnership⁹ with EADS, the parent company of Airbus, submitted bids, as did US-based Boeing Corporation. 

But when the Pentagon changed the specs for the order, Boeing became the only bidder for a contract some say could be worth upwards¹⁰ of $50 billion.

In a recent visit to Britain, French President Nicolas Sarkozy accused the United States of protectionism. "This is not the right way for the United States to treat its European allies, and it's not the right way for the United States to behave because it is a major nation, a leading nation," he said.

French officials say Mr. Sarkozy will discuss the issue when he meets President Barack Obama at the end of the month. 

France has already received backing from several European leaders, including British Prime Minister Gordon Brown. "I too am disappointed about the American decision, and we have made our views known about this as well.  We believe in free trade. We believe in open markets. We believe in open competition," he said.

While some say Mr. Sarkozy's claims have merit, Aboulafia believes Boeing's advantage is more about domestic politics than protectionism. "At the end of the day, they looked at the jobs footprint of those planes and one is far more Democratic party, the Boeing plane.  And the other one is purely¹¹ in the Republican south, primarily Alabama.  They might have just made the rational calculation that with the Democrats¹² in charge of the House, Senate and executive branch - that would be the plane that was more likely to obtain funding," he said.

Some say Europe's argument carries little weight because the French government has never purchased a U.S. military product when a European equivalent was available. 

But Aboulafia warns the issue could cause problems for some U.S. manufacturers. "I think the real concern here is that Europeans use this protectionist angle as an excuse to shut their own borders and basically insure that more European EU nations purchase European weapons systems rather than American ones.   Theres a real danger of that," he said.

But even if Boeing is awarded the contract, Aboulafia says military contracts represent only a fraction of civil aviation orders. 

He says the growing demand worldwide for larger, more fuel-effcient aircraft is likely to keep competing aircraft manufacturers - both European and American - busy.
 

1 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。

2 specifications   

n.规格；载明；详述；（产品等的）说明书；说明书( specification的名词复数 )；详细的计划书；载明；详述

参考例句：

• Our work must answer the specifications laid down. 我们的工作应符合所定的规范。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• This sketch does not conform with the specifications. 图文不符。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

3 bidder   

n.(拍卖时的)出价人，报价人，投标人

参考例句：

• TV franchises will be auctioned to the highest bidder.电视特许经营权将拍卖给出价最高的投标人。
• The bidder withdrew his bid after submission of his bid.投标者在投标之后撤销了投标书。

4 aeronautic   

adj.航空（学）的

参考例句：

• Something akin to panic swept the National Aeronautic and Space Agency. 一种近乎恐慌的心情席卷了国家宇航局。 来自辞典例句
• They are widely used in electronic instruments aeronautic instruments etc. 此类轴承在各类电子仪器中得以广泛运用。 来自互联网

5 repercussions   

n.后果，反响( repercussion的名词复数 )；余波

参考例句：

• The collapse of the company will have repercussions for the whole industry. 这家公司的垮台将会给整个行业造成间接的负面影响。
• Human acts have repercussions far beyond the frontiers of the human world. 人类行为所产生的影响远远超出人类世界的范围。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 tankers   

运送大量液体或气体的轮船[卡车]( tanker的名词复数 )； 油轮； 罐车； 油槽车

参考例句：

• They should stop offloading waste from oil tankers into the sea. 他们应当停止从油轮上往海里倾倒废弃物。
• The harbour admits large tankers and freighters. 这个港口容得下巨型油船和货轮。

7 aerospace   

adj.航空的，宇宙航行的

参考例句：

• The world's entire aerospace industry is feeling the chill winds of recession.全世界的航空航天工业都感受到了经济衰退的寒意。
• Edward Murphy was an aerospace engineer for the US Army.爱德华·墨菲是一名美军的航宇工程师。

8 consultant   

n.顾问；会诊医师，专科医生

参考例句：

• He is a consultant on law affairs to the mayor.他是市长的一个法律顾问。
• Originally,Gar had agreed to come up as a consultant.原来，加尔只答应来充当我们的顾问。

9 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。

10 upwards   

adv.向上，在更高处...以上

参考例句：

• The trend of prices is still upwards.物价的趋向是仍在上涨。
• The smoke rose straight upwards.烟一直向上升。

11 purely   

adv.纯粹地，完全地

参考例句：

• I helped him purely and simply out of friendship.我帮他纯粹是出于友情。
• This disproves the theory that children are purely imitative.这证明认为儿童只会单纯地模仿的理论是站不住脚的。

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》