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Finance & economics
财经板块
Transatlantic trade: Concrete jungle
跨大西洋贸易：实在丛林
Europe and America put a brave face on a growing economic rift
面对日益严重的经济分歧，欧洲和美国强装勇敢
A useful contrarian indicator for gauging the substance of international talks is whether negotiators talk about concrete.
衡量国际谈判实质的实用反向指标，是看谈判者是否谈论具体问题。
The more they do, the less they tend to achieve.
他们谈论得越多，实现得往往就越少。
The Trade and Technology Council (TTC), a forum for the EU and America to co-ordinate regulation, appears to prove this admittedly cynical rule.
作为欧盟和美国协调监管的论坛，贸易与技术委员会(TTC)似乎证明了这一公认的讽刺规则。
At its latest meeting on December 5th, the White House said it had advanced “concrete action” on transatlantic co-operation by launching new “concrete initiatives”, while a joint statement with the Europeans promised yet more “concrete outcomes” and “concrete actions”.
在12月5日的最近一次会议上，白宫表示，它已通过推出新的“具体倡议”，推进了跨大西洋合作的“具体行动”，而与欧洲的一份联合声明承诺会有更多“具体结果”和“具体行动”。
The trouble is, despite all the talk of concreteness, America and Europe now have major disagreements in the economic realm and few obvious solutions.
问题是，尽管谈论了具体问题，但美国和欧洲目前在经济领域存在重大分歧，且几乎没有明显的解决方案。
The main point of contention is the Inflation Reduction Act, the centrepiece of the Democrats’ climate-and-industrial strategy.
争论的主要焦点是《通胀削减法案》，这是民主党气候与工业战略的核心内容。
The IRA, signed into law in August, features nearly $400bn in funding for energy-related projects, much of which is contingent on goods being produced in or near America.
今年8月签署成为法律的《通胀削减法案》，为能源相关项目提供了近4000亿美元的资金，其中很大一部分取决于在美国或美国附近生产的商品。
There are subsidies for automakers who buy locally made batteries, tax credits for domestic producers of renewable fuels and tax breaks for consumers who buy electric vehicles that contain enough North American components.
目前有为购买本地生产的电池的汽车制造商提供的补贴，为国内可再生燃料生产商提供的税收抵免，以及为购买含有足够北美零部件的电动汽车的消费者提供的税收减免。
The Biden administration believes these incentives are needed to spur the development of America’s green economy.
拜登政府认为，这些激励措施是刺激美国绿色经济发展所必需的。
In industries such as electric vehicles, America is a laggard.
在电动汽车等行业，美国处于落后地位。
The worry in Europe and Asia is that America’s giant market and generous handouts will attract their companies at the expense of their home bases.
欧洲和亚洲担心的是，美国巨大的市场和慷慨的拨款会吸引他们的公司，而代价是牺牲他们的总部。
In the past year alone international carmakers from BMW and Toyota to Mercedes and Stellantis have announced big investments in America.
仅在过去的一年里，从宝马、丰田到梅赛德斯、Stellantis等国际汽车制造商都宣布在美国进行大规模投资。
The fallout from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine adds to the aggravation: a shift away from Russian energy supplies has raised costs in Europe, further harming its industries.
俄罗斯入侵乌克兰的后果更是雪上加霜：放弃俄罗斯的能源供应导致欧洲成本上升，进一步损害了欧洲的工业。
