经济学人下载:贸易协定,多少有些进展

Trade pacts贸易协定

Progress, of a sort
多少有些进展

Coupling trade with worker aid
想要贸易协定，就得搭上工人补贴

Jun 30th 2011 | WASHINGTON, DC | from the print edition

BARACK OBAMA is a late and reluctant convert to free trade. As a senator he opposed many trade agreements negotiated by George Bush—among them deals with Korea, Colombia and, for a time, Panama. As president he has given his backing to those deals, provided Korea did more to admit American cars, Colombia made greater efforts to prevent the murder of union activists, and Panama tried harder to crack down on tax cheats. Satisfied on those fronts, he then insisted that Congress should also reauthorise Trade Adjustment Assistance, or TAA, which provides American workers who lose their jobs to foreign competition with training, income support and subsidised health insurance.

巴拉克．奥巴马（BARACK OBAMA）对于自由贸易态度的转变显得姗姗来迟，而且还颇为勉强。在其还是参议员的时候，他对许多由乔治．布什（George Bush）进行谈判的贸易协定投了反对票。其中包括与韩国，哥伦比亚，还有曾经一段时期内与巴拿马签署的贸易协定。成为总统之后，他对这些贸易协定表示了支持但是条件是韩国必须允许更多的美国汽车进入其市场，哥伦比亚需要花更大的力气来保护工会的骨干分子免遭谋杀。而巴拿马应加强对骗税行为的惩处力度。在这些条件得到满足之后，奥巴马又坚决要求国会重新批准贸易适应援助（Trade Adjustment Assistannce）简称TAA，从而能为因国外竞争导致失业的美国工人提供培训和收入方面的帮助，以及对其医疗保险提供补贴。

He appears to have won that as well. On June 28th the White House said it had a deal with Max Baucus and Dave Camp, the Democratic and Republican chairmen of the trade committees in the Senate and House respectively, to bundle reauthorisation of TAA in with the Korean deal. Mr Obama would then submit all three pacts to Congress for ratification, along with renewal of preferential tariffs for poor countries.

奥巴马的这个提议似乎也能获得批准。在6月28号，白宫宣布其已经分别与民主党与共和党在参众两院的贸易委员会主席Max Baucus 以及Dave Camp达成了协议。准备将重新批准的贸易适应援助（TAA）加入到美国与韩国的贸易协定中去。之后，奥巴马将向国会提请获批所有这3项贸易协议，另外还附加关于延长给予穷国优惠关税待遇。