笔译训练周计划 - 5.24 Wed 必做译文（下）

Week 3 - 5.24 Wed 必做译文（下）

Economic theory posited that a developed countrylike the United States would adjust to import competition by moving workersinto more advanced industries that competed successfully in global markets. Inthe real world of American workers exposed to the rush of imports after Chinaerupted onto world markets, the adjustment didn’t happen.

根据经济学理论，为适应进口竞争，像美国这样的发达国家会把工人向更高端的行业转移，从而在国际市场上占据优势。然而，随着中国在国际市场的井喷式发展，美国工人也面临着进口高峰期，却没有任何改善。

If mediocre job prospects and low wages didn’t stop American families from consuming, it was because the American financial system was flush with Chinese cash and willing to lend, financing their homes and refinancing them to buy the furniture.But that equilibrium didn’t end well either, did it?

如果黯淡的就业前景和低薪没能阻止美国家庭的消费行为，这是由于美国金融系统拥有大量人民币，并且愿意慷慨解囊，让人们贷款买房、买家具。但这种平衡不也最终被打破了吗？

What it left was a lot of betrayed anger floating around among many Americans on the wrong end of these dynamics. “By not following the law, the administration sent apolitical signal that the U.S. wouldn’t stand up to Chinese cheating,” saidEdward Alden, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. “As we can see now, that hurt in terms of maintaining political support for open trade.”

这种失衡的背后是无数感到被背叛和愤怒的美国民众。“政府违法发出了一种政治信号，即美国不会抵抗中国的榨取，”外交关系委员会高级官员爱德华·奥尔登如是说。“现在看来，这种信号的有害之处在于它为开放贸易提供了政治支持。”

If there was a winner from this dynamic, it was Mr.Trump.

这场变化的最大赢家是特朗普先生。

Will Mr. Trump really go after China? In additionto an expected executive order to retaliate against the dumping of Chinesesteel, he has promised more. He could tinker with the definitions of “material”and “significant” trade surpluses to justify a manipulation charge.

特朗普先生真的会对中国穷追不舍吗？他除了对中国钢铁倾销的报复性举措外还承诺过更多。通过玩弄“实质性的”及“显著的”贸易顺差的定义，他可以坐实这项货币操纵的指控。

And yet a charge of manipulation would add irony upon irony. “It would be incredibly ironic not to have named China a manipulator when it was manipulating, and name it when it is not,” Mr. Setser told me. And Mr. Trump would be retaliating against the economic dynamic that handed him the presidency.

然而这项罪名只会滑天下之大稽。“在中国真正操纵货币的时候不以为意，而在它不再操纵时却冠以罪名，太讽刺了，”赛斯特对我说道。而且这样一来，特朗普先生的报复对象就成了把自己推上总统之位的经济动态。