外刊經貿知識選讀 課 帶中文翻譯 (7).doc

旺旺英語Lesson 7 Japan Says NoTOKYOAmerica wants Japan to meet import targets for some American goods. An unwilling Japan has decided to draw the line.美國希望日本達到進口美國貨物的指標，不那么情愿的日本決定劃定最低界線。Once, when Japan faced pressure from abroad, it would either give in reluctantly or keep quiet and hope that the fuss would die down. No longer, it seems. The Clinton administration strongly believes in exerting such pressure. Its policy is to open some Japanese markets (which it deems to be closed) by setting import targetsan approach to trade policy that supporters call “results-oriented”. This ugly term foreshadows uncertain consequences. Far from capitulating to this new thrust要點，目標 of American trade policy, Japan is taking a stand that could lead to a trans-pacific confrontation.從前，日本面對外來壓力時，或者勉強屈服，或者保持沉默，并希望這種壓力逐漸消失。但現這種情況已經一去不復返了?？肆诸D政府熱衷于拖加這樣的壓力（依然認為對日施加貿易壓力會有效果。）其政策是通過設定進口指標來打開日本某些市場（美國認為日本某些市場是對外封閉的）這種方法被其支持者稱為“以結果為導向”貿易政策。這種牽強的說法預示著不確定的后果。日本非但沒有屈服于美國的強硬貿易政策反而采取了一種可能會導致太平洋雙岸對抗的矛盾（美日貿易沖突的立場）。Japans government is deeply opposed to what Americas trade representative, Mickey Kantor, has called a new policy geared to “quantifiable results” for some products. It fears that the demands and threats which are part of any such policy are bound to spreadboth within product groups and to new areas of trade. At the summit meeting last month between Bill Clinton and Japans prime minister, Kiichi Miyazawa, America insisted that Japan should come up with specific measures that would enable it to meet new import targets. Japans government will refuse.日本政府強烈反對美國貿易代表米奇坎特所稱的使某些產品適合 “定量結果”的新政策。日本擔心美國這種要求和威協(xié)只是其強硬貿易政策的部分，而注定要擴散。兩者都會擴散到產品整個類別并擴散到新的貿易領域。在上月比爾克林頓和日本首相宮澤喜一的兩國領導人峰會上，美國堅持要求日本拿出滿足新的進口指標的具體措施。日本政府將會拒絕這一要求。Instead, Japan is undertaking 著手做a detailed defence of its record on trade. This will first appear in the annual white paper on trade developments due to be published on May 21st by the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI)its definitive statement on trade matters. In addition to the customary dry analysis, this years edition will put Japans side of an argument that has, until now, been dominated by American and European critiques. It follows another MITI report, published this week that takes America, the European Community and other large trading partners to task for 指責某人 their “unfair trading practices”. Both reports argue for trade governed by multilateral rules and call for the completion of the Uruguay round of trade talks.相反，日本正為其貿易記錄進行具體的辯護。這將首次出現在日本通商產業(yè)省將于5月21日發(fā)布的關于貿易發(fā)展的年度白皮書中，這是該省有關貿易事務的權威性闡述。今年的白皮書除了常規(guī)的直截了當的分析外，還要提出日本的態(tài)度，而以前則是美歐的評論占主導地位。此前，在本周通產省曾發(fā)布了另一份報告，譴責美國、歐共體和其他主要貿易伙伴采取了“不公平的貿易做法”。兩份報告都認為貿易由多邊貿易規(guī)則管理并呼吁完成烏拉圭回合貿易談判。Besides making worthy free-trade noises, MITIs defence will also tackle American criticism head on. Naoyuki Haraoka, director of MITIs international trade research office is at pains to point out that Japan is in fact more open than other countries. Japans average tariff on mining and manufactured goods is 2.7%, compared with 4.2% in America and 4.6% in the European community. The report will also reject駁斥 the argument that Japan needs special trade sanctions because it operates a different sort of capitalism. It will try to do so by explaining the nature and future of the countrys trade surplus.除了發(fā)表有價值的自由貿易議論以外，也將針對美國的批評進行辯護。通產省國際貿易研究室主任葉廊不遺余力指出，日本實際上比其他國家更開放。日本對礦產品和工業(yè)制成品的平均關稅是2.7，而美國是4.2，歐共體是4.6。該報告還將駁斥一種認為由于日本的資本主義制度與他國不同，則需對其實施特殊的貿易制裁的論斷。報告將闡述日本貿易順差的本質和前景來達到此目的。It is this persistent surplus, more than anything, that has provoked anger in Washingtonand Mr. Clintons remark that “the possibility of obtaining real, even access to the Japanese market is somewhat remote”. This year the surplus has been growing fast. Jesper Koll, a Tokyo-based economist at S.G. Warburg, estimates that Japans trade surplus could reach $200 billion if the yen stays at current levels. That is $68 billion more than last years figure. Moreover, the bilateral surplus with America is also growing rapidly. Mr. Koll reckons it will climb from $44 billion in 1992 to $78 billion this year, an all-time high. With the economy still barely growing, despite two fiscal packages in the past nine months, Japans critics say that the country is once more exporting its way out of recession.正是也僅僅是由于持續(xù)的貿易順差，而非其他什么東西，激起了華盛頓的憤怒?？肆诸D說“想要真正獲得日本市場甚至是進入日本市場都很遙遠”。今年日本貿易順差增長很快。S. G.瓦爾堡位于東京的經濟學家杰斯帕科爾估計，如果日元維持目前的水平，今年日本貿易順差會達到2000億美元而比去年增長680億美元。而且與美國雙邊貿易順差也在迅速增長。據科爾估計，日美雙邊貿易順差將會從1992年的440億美元增長到今年的780億美元而創(chuàng)下歷史最高記錄。盡管在過去的9個月里日本政府推出了實施了兩個財政一攬子計劃，但日本經濟仍增長緩慢。批評人士指出日本又一次在利用出口擺脫經濟衰退的困境。One defence the ministry will make is that most trade statistics ignore services. MITI estimates, using data from the Bank of Japan, that if Japans import of services had been included in its trade statistics, then the grade surplus would have been $84 billion, $48 billion lower than reported. Exclusive惟一的 attention to trade in goods is therefore misleading. MITI wants to see better collection of statistics for trade in services by international bodies such as the OECD.通產省還準備了這樣的反駁，多數貿易統(tǒng)計忽略了服務貿易，根據日本銀行的統(tǒng)計，如果算上日本的服務貿易進口，那么其貿易順差將是840億美元，比現在報告的數據低480億美元。因此，只關注貨物貿易是有誤導性的。通產省希望看到經合組織等國際組織收集更好的服務貿易統(tǒng)計數據。Surplus, what surplus?順差，什么是順差？Analysis by Mr. Haraokas office explains the recent rise in Japans trade surplus as follows: because of the recession衰退 at home, Japan has seen a decline in expensive imports of luxuries, which were enormously fashionable during the second half of the 1980s. This effect has been compounded, thanks to slow growth elsewhere, by low prices for the international commodities that Japanese industry depends upon. Exports of Japanese machinery, on the other hand, withstood the downturn quite well because the Asian economies that buy them continued to boom.葉廊下所在部門的分析解釋了近期日本貿易順差增長的原因：由于日本國內經濟衰退，昂貴的奢侈品的進口有所下降，而這些產品在20世紀80年代后期卻是十分流行的。另外，由于其他地區(qū)經濟增長放緩，因此日本工業(yè)所依賴的國際商品的價格下落，由此使日本貿易順差更為明顯。另一方面，由于購買日本機械產品的亞洲國家經濟的持續(xù)高速增長，因此日本機械產品出口仍可經受經濟疲軟而保持持續(xù)增長Also, the American and Japanese economies have been out of kilter. Americas strengthening economy caused an increase in American demand for Japanese imports, while Japanese demand for foreign goods declined. The effect is amplified, MITI argues, because 35% of American exports to Japan are industrial commodities, which are highly sensitive to the business cycle.另外，美國和日本的經濟已經失調，美國日益增強的經濟導致了其對日本進口產品的需求增加，另一方面，而日本對國外產品的需求減少。通產省認為，這種矛盾會逐漸增強，因為美國對日本的出口產品35是工業(yè)產品，而工業(yè)產品正是在商業(yè)周期中最易敏感的。Having argued that criticism of the trade surplus in Washington is misconceived, MITIs forthcoming paper goes on to predict that the surplus will, of its own accord, gradually diminish in size and relevance: When Japanese demand picks up again, imports will grow more quickly than in past recoveries. This is because the volume of Japanese imports has become more sensitive to the domestic economic cycle.在提出華盛頓對貿易順差的錯誤批評以后，通產省即將發(fā)布的報告接著預測這種貿易順差的規(guī)模和重要性將會自動地逐漸縮減：日本內需再次增長時，進口將會比過去的恢復期增長更快。這是因為日本的進口量對國內的經濟周期的敏感度正在提高。 Parts and components account for a growing share of Japans exports; 28% of total exports and 36% of machinery exports in 1992 compared with 19% and 28% respectively in 1981. MITI believes that such exports should be of less concern to advocates of managed trade than consumer goods, because components increase the competitivenessand therefore the export potentialof the industries that buy them. (Advocates of managed trade would doubtless dispute that.)零部件的出口在日本的出口中占有越來越大的比例：1992年在總出口額和機械產品出口額中占的份額分別為28和36，而1981年僅為19和28。通產省認為，零部件出口相對消費品出口不太會引起管理貿易倡導者的非議，因為這些部件的進口有利于提高了購買行業(yè)的競爭力，從而改善這些零部件進口行業(yè)的出口潛力（管理貿易的倡導者無疑會反對這一點）。 From now on, MITI argues, Japans overseas plants will increasingly export their output back to Japan. Before, they bought Japanese exports of equipment and parts.通產省認為，從現在開始，日本的海外工廠將會越來越多地把出口產品銷回日本。此前這些企業(yè)是從日本國內購買設備和零件。 Three years of declining profits have followed the over-investment of the late 1980s. Mr.Haraoka predicts that Japanese managers will henceforth act more like Western managers, putting profits before their firms market share. In the past, that is, Japanese firms have been export-driven; in future they will be less likely to export their way out of trouble.20世紀80年代后期的過度投資造成了隨后持續(xù)三年的利潤下降。葉廊下預測，日本的經營者會變得更像西方管理者那樣，重視利潤超過市場份額。也就是說，日本公司一向是以出口為導向，但將來他們將不太可能通過出口來度過危機。For these reasons, MITI argues, Japans trade surplus will fall in due course. However, it says, a persistent surplus (albeit a smaller one) is inevitable as long as Japanese households save more than American ones, and Americas budget deficit remains untamed. This is a familiar point: trade balances are determined by macroeconomic factors, not by trade policy. To this, a sophisticated advocate of the import-target approach could reply that the balance is not the issue. What matter is access to Japans markets, America would be content if Japan increased its imports and exports by the same amount (leaving the trade balance, and the associated accounting identities, undisturbed). This reply is disingenuous. American public opinion demands, in its unsophisticated way, a smaller trade deficit.由于這些原因，通產省認為，日本的貿易順差會在適當的時候出現下降。但同時也強調，只要日本家庭的儲蓄高于美國，美國的預算赤字仍然失控，持續(xù)的貿易順差（盡管數量很?。┦遣豢杀苊獾?。這是一個人們熟知的觀點：貿易差額是由宏觀經濟因素決定的，而不是靠貿易政策。對于美國進口指標政策的老練支持者會指出，貿易差額并不是問題，重要的是要進入日本市場。只要日本進出口量的增長幅度相同（不理會貿易差額率和相關的帳目統(tǒng)一），美國就滿意了。這種回答是略帶詭辯色彩的。美國公眾的要求很簡單，即縮小貿易逆差。On trade and other issues, Japan has caved in to outside pressure countless times before, and may do so again. The White House seems to be counting on this. It, and Congress, would be better advised to concentrate on reducing Americas budget deficit. That would reduce the trade deficit regardless of Japans trade policies. Threats of trade reprisals, even if they force Japan to give way, will not.在貿易及其他問題上，日本以前已經向外界壓力屈服了無數次，而且可能會再次屈服。白宮似乎在指望這一點。但美國政府和國會最好集中精力考慮如何降低美國的預算赤字。這樣，無論日本的貿易政策如何，貿易逆差都會降低。用貿易報復來威脅，即使迫使日本屈服，也不會降低貿易逆差。-From the Economist. May 15,1993target/ 5ta:git/ n.指標approach/ E5prEutF/ n.（處理問題的）方式；方法foreshadow/ 5fR:5FAdou/ v.預示capitulate (to)/ / v.投降；屈服(take a) stand/ / n.立場，觀點，態(tài)度（采取一種態(tài)度；持一種觀點）be opposed to/ / 反對，對抗gear to/ / v.使適應；使適合thrust/ WrQst/ n.要點；目標customary/ 5kQstEmEri/ a.習慣上的；按慣例的critique/ kri5ti:k/ n.評論文章argue/ 5a:gju:/ v.提出理由；提供理由argue for/ / 主張tackle/ 5tA