Trump puts protectionism at heart of US economic policy

特朗普在就职后首个工作日宣布退出TPP

2017.1.24

President Donald Trump signalled he would put protectionism at the heart of economic policy, withdrawing the US from a historic Pacific trade pact and threatening to punish companies for moving production overseas on his first working day in office.

Mr Trump said pulling out of the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership, a signature initiative of predecessor Barack Obama’s “pivot” to Asia, was a “great thing for the American worker”.

His signing of the TPP executive order came shortly after he warned a White House gathering of US business executives that he would place a “very major” border tax on companies that moved production overseas and exported products back into the country.

While Mr Trump made clear during the campaign that he would withdraw from the TPP, the move was a potent signal that he will use his first days in the Oval Office to plough ahead with the populist, antitrade agenda that catapulted him to the White House.

Mr Trump is also expected to formally tell Canada and Mexico that he wants to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement, which was signed by then-president Bill ­Clinton in 1993.

Republican senator John McCain criticised the TPP move as a “serious mistake”, highlighting how Mr Trump’s agenda is at odds with decades of Republican trade policy. “It will create an opening for China to rewrite the economic rules at the expense of American workers,” Mr McCain said. “And it will send a troubling signal of American ­disengagement in the Asia-Pacific region at a time we can least afford it.”

Japan and several other TPP signatories — which include some of the closest US allies along the Pacific Rim — have vowed to press ahead with the pact.

Shinzo Abe, Japan’s prime minister, told parliament yesterday that he would press the US leader to rejoin the pact. “President Trump understands the importance of free and fair trade, so I’d like to pursue his understanding on the strategic and economic importance of the TPP,” Mr Abe said.

Steven Ciobo, the Australian trade minister, said going forward with the remaining 10 nations still made economic sense for his country.

In his inaugural speech on Friday, Mr Trump said the US had “made other countries rich while the wealth, strength and confidence of our country has disappeared over the horizon”.

In his first White House meeting since the inauguration, Mr Trump put companies on notice that he intended to match his rhetoric with action, telling chief executives that he would look harshly on companies that moved production out of the US. He also said those that wanted to open US plants would face fewer regulations and lower tax.

During the session, which included Elon Musk of Tesla and Marilyn Hewson of Lockheed Martin, Mr Trump said he would impose a “substantial border tax” on goods made overseas by US companies, but would offer “advantages” to those who manufactured domestically.

“A company that wants to fire all of its people in the United States and build some factory someplace else and then thinks that that product is gonna just flow across the border . . . that’s not gonna happen,” he said.

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唐纳德·特朗普总统发出信号表明，他将把保护主义置于经济政策的核心，他在就职后的首个工作日将美国从一份历史性的环太平洋贸易协定撤出，并威胁要惩罚把生产迁往海外的企业。

特朗普表示退出12个国家签署的《跨太平洋伙伴关系协定》（简称TPP）对美国工人来说是一件天大的喜事。TPP是他的前任巴拉克·奥巴马“转向”亚洲战略的下一个标志性举措。

在签署有关TPP的行政命令之前不久，特朗普警告一批被叫到白宫开会的美国企业高管：他将对那些把生产迁往海外然后向美国出口产品的企业征收一项“非常重”的边境税。

尽管特朗普在竞选期间就表明他将退出TPP，但此举仍是一个有力的信号，表明他将在入主椭圆形办公室后马上推行当初让他问鼎白宫的民粹主义、反贸易议程。

预计特朗普还将正式通知加拿大和墨西哥，他想重新谈判1993年由时任总统比尔·克林顿签署的北美自由贸易协定。

共和党议员约翰·麦凯恩批评退出TPP的举动是一个“严重的错误”，突显特朗普的议程与共和党几十年的贸易政策相悖。“这将为中国创造一个重写经济规则的机会，而让美国工人付出代价”麦凯恩表示。“而且它将在亚太地区发出一个令人不安的美国脱离接触的信号，而目前正是我们最承受不起这一点的时候。”

日本和其他几个TPP签署国——包括太平洋周边一些与美国关系最密切的盟国——誓言要推进这份贸易协定。

日本首相安倍晋三昨日告诉国会，他将敦促美国领导人重新加入TPP。“特朗普总统了解自由和公平贸易的重要性，因此我将继续致力于说服他理解TPP的战略和经济重要性，”安倍表示。

澳大利亚贸易部长史蒂文·乔博表示，与剩下的10个成员国推进TPP，对他的国家仍然具有经济意义。

特朗普在上周五的就职演说上表示，过去的美国“使别的国家富裕起来而自己国家的财富、力量和信心却已消失。”

在他就任后的第一次白宫会议上，特朗普明确告知企业：他说到做到。他对到会的首席执行官们表示，他会严厉看待那些把生产迁至美国境外的公司。他还表示，想在美国境内开厂的企业将面临更少的法规和更低的税收。

特朗普在会上表示，他将对美国公司在海外生产的产品征收“高额边境税”，但将为那些在境内从事制造的企业提供“优势”。与会者包括特斯拉公司的埃隆·马斯克和洛克希德·马丁公司的玛丽莲·休森。

工厂，然后认为那些产品就会这样流过边境……那是不可能发生的，”他说。

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signature 标志性的

initiative 举措，措施

predecessor前任，前辈

executive adj.行政的；n.主管

potent 有力的，有效的

populist 民粹主义

opening 开始；机会；缺口；开幕式

vow n.誓言 v.立誓，起誓  vow to do sth. 立誓做某事

pact 协定，条约

parliament 国会，议会

parley 和谈，会谈

inaugural 就职的，开幕的，首次的

the inaugural speech/address 就职演说

the inaugural flight/lecture/match 首次飞行/第一堂课/首场比赛

retoric 修辞，言辞

match rhetoric with action 言行一致，说到做到

CEO（chief executive officer）首席执行官

plant n.植物；工厂，车间；重型机械  v.种植

session （议会）会议；（法院）开庭；（大学）学年

session of parliament 议会会议

substantial=considerable 大量的，多的

substaintial 实在的，本质的；重要的

impose v.强制推行，强制实行

impose sth. on sb. 将某物强加于某人

put sth. at the heart of  把某物置于…的核心

withdraw sb. from sth. 从…中退出

pull out of 退出，拉出，取出

executive order 行政命令

business executive 企业主管

border tax 边境税

plough ahead 向前推进，推行

catapult sb. to fame/stardom/the White House 使某人一举成名/成为明星/问鼎白宫

be expected to do 被期望做某事，有望做某事