VOA慢速英語：中美貿(mào)易談判開始，料難有重大成果

US-China Trade Talks Begin, No Major Agreement Expected

中美貿(mào)易談判開始，料難有重大成果

A high-level trade delegation from the United States arrived in Beijing Thursday to hold talks with Chinese officials on trade policies.

美國高層代表團周四抵達北京就貿(mào)易政策與中國官員舉行會談。

The U.S. team includes Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin. The Chinese side is led by Vice Premier Liu He, the top economic adviser to President Xi Jinping.

美國代表團包括商務(wù)部長羅斯、美國貿(mào)易代表萊特希澤以及財政部長姆努欽。中國方面由習主席的首席經(jīng)濟顧問、副總理劉鶴領(lǐng)銜。

U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly said that China has unfair trade policies that hurt the U.S. economy and its workers. Trump also wants to reduce the large U.S. trade deficit with China.

美國總統(tǒng)川普曾多次表示，中國不公平的貿(mào)易政策損害了美國經(jīng)濟和工人。川普還希望減少美國與中國的大幅貿(mào)易逆差。

Foreign companies are concerned about policies that, they say, force them to share technology with Chinese partners in order to do business in China.

外國公司對一些政策非常擔憂。他們稱這些政策強迫他們與中國合作伙伴分享技術(shù)以便在中國開展業(yè)務(wù)。

The negotiations are expected to deal with ways to resolve these trade disputes. In addition, the two sides are expected to discuss newly-announced trade tariffs.

預計談判會找到解決這些貿(mào)易爭端的辦法。此外，雙方預計會討論新近公布的貿(mào)易關(guān)稅。

In early April, China announced tariffs on more than 100 U.S. goods, including vehicles, plastic goods and agricultural products. The new tariffs would affect $50 billion worth of U.S. products.

四月初，中國宣布對100多種美國商品的關(guān)稅，其中包括汽車、塑料制品和農(nóng)產(chǎn)品。新的關(guān)稅將會影響到價值500億美元的美國商品。

The move followed a Trump administration announcement that it planned to place tariffs on about $50 billion dollars of Chinese exports. Trump has also suggested he is considering putting additional tariffs on up to $100 billion in Chinese goods.

此舉是在川普政府宣布計劃對大約500億美元中國商品征收關(guān)稅之后。川普還表示他正考慮對價值1000億美元的中國商品征收額外的關(guān)稅。

China denies that it carries out unfair trading policies. However, it recently announced moves some observers see as partly answering the U.S. criticism.

中國否認實施了不公平的貿(mào)易政策。然而，該國最近宣布的舉措被觀察人士視為對美國批評的部分回應。

Chinese officials have promised to reduce a 25 percent tariff on imported foreign cars by 2022. China also announced it would drop rules requiring foreign automakers to share factory ownership and profits with Chinese companies by the same year.

中國官員已經(jīng)承諾在2022年前降低對外國汽車進口征收的25%的關(guān)稅。中國還宣布在2022年前放棄要求外國汽車制造商同中國公司分享工廠所有權(quán)和利潤的規(guī)定。

Trump expressed hope about the new trade talks in a Twitter message late Wednesday. "Our great financial team is in China trying to negotiate a level playing field on trade!" he tweeted. "I look forward to being with President Xi in the not too distant future. We will always have a good (great) relationship!"

川普周三晚些時候在推特上表達了對新一輪貿(mào)易談判的希望。他在推文中說：“我們出色的經(jīng)貿(mào)團隊已經(jīng)抵達中國，他們要為在貿(mào)易領(lǐng)域營造一個公平的競爭環(huán)境進行磋商!我期待在不久的未來跟習主席見面。我們將一直保持良好(偉大的)關(guān)系!

U.S. government numbers released Thursday showed the U.S. trade deficit with China fell 11.6 percent in March to $26 billion. That number comes after the deficit in February reached its highest level in nine years.

美國政府周四公布的數(shù)據(jù)顯示，3月份美國同中國的貿(mào)易逆差下降了11.6%，降到了260億美元。這一數(shù)字出現(xiàn)在2月份逆差達到9年來的最高水平之后。

A Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman confirmed the talks had begun, but did not provide further information. The spokeswoman said China welcomed the talks. But she said the negotiations should be based on equality and respect, to provide a "win-win" agreement for both sides.

中國外交部發(fā)言人證實會談已經(jīng)開始，但是并未提供進一步信息。這位女發(fā)言人表示，中國歡迎會談。但她表示，談判應該以平等和尊重為基礎(chǔ)，為雙方提供一份雙贏的協(xié)議。

The official China Daily said in an editorial Chinese officials would stand up to any "U.S. bullying as necessary" during the talks.

官方的《中國日報》在一篇社論中表示，中國官員在談判期間會頂住美國的任何欺凌行為。

Christopher Balding is a professor at Peking University's HSBC Business School. He says getting the two sides to resolve major trade differences during the talks is likely to be very difficult.

克里斯托弗·鮑爾丁(Christopher Balding)是北京大學匯豐商學院的教授。他說，讓雙方在這輪談判期間解決重大貿(mào)易分歧可能會非常困難。

"I would be somewhat surprised if there was any real change in the negotiating stance of either party," he said. He added that the main issue is China's repeated unwillingness to further open its markets.

他說：“如果任何一方的談判立場沒有發(fā)生實質(zhì)變化，我都會感到有些驚訝。”他補充說，主要問題是中國一再不愿進一步開放市場。

Balding said he thinks the best result would be the two sides finding enough room to compromise to avoid getting into a possible trade war.

鮑爾丁表示，他認為最好的結(jié)果是雙方找到足夠的妥協(xié)空間，避免陷入可能的貿(mào)易戰(zhàn)。

I'm Bryan Lynn.

布萊恩·林恩報道。