经济学人下载:一周要闻 中美贸易战愈演愈烈 特斯拉或将私有化 纽约议会暂停发放新牌照

The world this week: Business
本周要闻：经济

Even by the standard of his previous capricious outbursts, Elon Musk’s tweet that he is thinking about taking Tesla private left investors scratching their heads. Such a buyout would be the biggest in history. In a memo on the carmaker’s website, Mr Musk said he was considering the move to shield Tesla, which has been plagued by production problems, from the short-term demands of public markets and to stop short sellers from attacking Tesla’s shares. Some wondered whether such a significant disclosure about the business followed the proper regulatory rules. Mr Musk’s announcement came on the heels of reports that a Saudi investment fund had taken a stake in the company.
即便了解埃隆·马斯克(Elon Musk)经常作出反复无常的言论，但是，他正在考虑将特斯拉私有化的那则推特(tweet)也让投资者摸不着头脑。这将是历史上规模最大的一次收购。在特斯拉网站上的一份备忘录中，马斯克表示，他正考虑采取行动，以保护特斯拉免受公共市场短期需求的影响，以及阻止卖空者攻击特斯拉股票，特斯拉一直受到生产问题的困扰。一些人怀疑，如此重大的商业信息披露是否遵循了适当的监管规则。在马斯克发表上述声明之前，有报道称，一家沙特投资基金入股了该公司。

The trade war between America and China intensified. The Trump administration proceeded with plans to impose tariffs on a further $16bn-worth of goods from China, which come into effect on August 23rd. China said it would respond in kind. It had earlier threatened to levy new duties on $60bn-worth of American exports if America implemented tariffs on another $200bn-worth of Chinese products.
中美贸易战愈演愈烈。特朗普政府继续计划对价值160亿美元的中国商品加征关税，该计划将于8月23日生效。中国表示，将采取同样的方式作为回应。此前，中国曾威胁称，如果美国对另外价值2000亿美元的中国产品征收关税，那么中方将对价值600亿美元的美国出口产品征收新关税。

Germany’s economy ministry in part blamed “uncertainties” in trade for a decline in manufacturing orders. Orders from within the euro zone and domestically fell by almost 3% between May and June. Those from outside the currency bloc dipped by 6%.
德国经济部将制造业订单下跌部分归咎于贸易的“不确定性”。从5月份到6月份，来自欧元区内部和国内的订单下跌了近3%。而来自欧元区以外的国家的订单下降了6%。

New York’s city council voted to stop issuing new licences for ride-hailing cars for a year while it reassesses the industry, and also to set a minimum wage for drivers. Although existing licensed drivers will still be allowed to operate, the ruling is a setback for Uber in its biggest market.
纽约市议会(New York city council)投票决定，在对共享汽车服务行业重新进行评估的一年内停止发放新牌照，并为司机设定最低工资。尽管现有的持牌司机仍可运营，但该裁决对优步而言是其在最大市场上遭遇的一个挫折。

Unfazed by American sanctions and boosted by higher oil prices, Rosneft’s quarterly net profit surged, to 228bn roubles ($3.7bn). After years of big acquisitions, the Russian oil producer, the world’s biggest listed oil company by output, said its buoyant earnings reflected improved efficiency.
由于油价上升，俄罗斯石油公司(Rosneft)季度净利润飙升至2280亿卢布(合37亿美元)，丝毫没有受到美国制裁的影响。经过多年的大规模收购后，这家全球产量最大的上市石油公司表示，其强劲的利润反映出效率提高。

Glencore’s headline profit for the first half of the year rose to $8.3bn, a record for the mining and commodities-trading firm. Its metals business benefited from rising commodity prices in the first half, particularly in battery-related metals such as nickel and cobalt. However, cobalt prices have plunged recently, as China has upped its exports of the metal.
今年上半年，嘉能可的整体利润增至83亿美元，创下这家矿业及大宗商品交易公司的最高纪录。该公司的金属业务受益于上半年大宗商品的价格上涨，尤其是镍和钴等电池相关的金属。然而，随着中国钴的出口量增加，钴的价格最近出现大幅下跌。