2018年雅思阅读材料盘点：中美经济关系紧张

 　 The silk-silver axis,The world's most important economic relationship is also its most fraught

　　IN 1784 the Empress of China set sail from New York, on the first American trade mission to China. Carrying ginseng, lead and woolen cloth, the merchants aboard dreamed of cracking open the vast Asian market. But the real profit, they found, came on their return, when they brought Chinese teas and porcelain to America. As other ships followed in its wake, the pattern became clear. Americans wanted more from China than Chinese wanted from America, and the difference was made up with a steady outflow of silver from America into China. The Empress had launched not just commercial ties between the two great countries but also an American deficit in its trade with China.

　　1784年，中国皇后号帆船从纽约起航，踏上美国对中国的首次通商之旅。船上满载着人参、铅和毛料，商人们渴望能够打开广阔的亚洲市场。但他们发现，从中国带回的茶叶和瓷器才是真正的利润之源。随着其他船只步其后尘，这种贸易模式逐渐清晰起来。美国人想要的中国货多过中国人想要的美国货，其中的差额由美国源源不断地向中国支付银元来补足。中国皇后号不仅开启了两个大国间的商业联系，也开启了美国对中国的贸易逆差。

　　but nowadays electronic gadgets. In recent years it has reached a record size (see chart 1). When Xi Jinping, China's president, meets Donald Trump-a meeting is reportedly planned in Florida early in April-the deficit will top the agenda. In his run to the White House, Mr Trump promised a combative stance against China on trade. Some expect America to slap punitive tariffs on Chinese goods, triggering an all-out trade war. Others think a grand bargain that defuses tensions is possible.

　　这种赤字的现代化身仍由消费品贸易驱动，只不过货物变成了电子产品。近年来这一赤字已达到新高(见图表1)。据报道，中国国家主席习近平将于4月初在佛罗里达与特朗普会晤，届时贸易赤字将成为首要议题。在总统竞选期间，特朗普承诺将就贸易问题对中国采取强硬姿态。有人预计美国会对中国商品征收惩罚性关税，引发全面贸易战。其他人则认为双方可能会达成"大妥协"以缓和紧张局势。

　　Many American businesses, bruised in their dealings with China, cautiously welcome a harder line. For their part, Chinese businesses feel unjustly singled out. Both sides are nervous, conscious that the world's most important economic relationship is also its most complex. America and China are bound together by cross-border flows of goods, cash, people and ideas that are bigger than ever. These ties have greatly benefited the two countries' prosperity. A rupture would be severely damaging for both.

　　许多在跟中国打交道时吃过苦头的美国企业谨慎欢迎政府更强硬地处理经贸关系。而中国企业觉得独独自己成为矛头所向有失公允。双方都有些紧张，都意识到世界上最重要的经济关系也是最复杂的。中美之间货物、资金、人员和思想的跨国往来规模空前，关系密不可分，大大有利于两国的繁荣。关系一旦破裂，两方都会严重受损。

　　The original sin, for Mr Trump's most hawkish advisers, is the trade imbalance. Before China joined the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2001, China accounted for less than a quarter of America's total trade deficit; over the past five years, it has made up two-thirds. Peter Navarro, head of Mr Trump's new National Trade Council, sees the deficit as a drag on America's economy. Close it, he argues, and America's GDP will be bigger. And he sees a way to do so: take on China over its unfair trade practices, from currency meddling to export subsidies. In 2012 he released a documentary, "Death by China", as a call to arms.

　　特朗普的强硬派顾问大多认为，双边关系的原罪是贸易不平衡。中国于2001年加入世贸组织之前，在美国总贸易逆差中只占了不到四分之一;过去五年中，中国已经占到三分之二。彼得·纳瓦罗(Peter Navarro)是特朗普新组建的全国贸易委员会的主席，他认为贸易赤字拖累了美国经济。纳瓦罗说，如果消除这一赤字，美国的GDP总量会更大。他认为有个办法可以消除贸易赤字：挑战中国从货币干预到出口补贴等不公平贸易的做法。2012年，纳瓦罗发布了纪录片《致命中国》(Death by China)，如同贸易战的檄文。