Can You Understand Real English? | Learn English Podcast (Tariffs) · To Fluency
本课讲解关税相关词汇和表达，帮助你理解新闻并运用在真实对话中。适合练习经济、商业和日常英语。
Tariffs are everywhere.
关税无处不在。
Countries are adding them, removing them, and arguing about them.
各国都在不断增加或减少这些内容，并就相关问题展开争论。
But what are tariffs and how do they affect us?
但是，什么是关税？它们又是如何影响我们的呢？
In this English lesson, you're going to learn the key vocabulary all about tariffs and also learn about them too,
在这节英语课上，你将学习与关税相关的所有关键词汇，并且还会深入了解关税的相关知识。
so that the next time you turn
这样下次你再转动的时候……
on the news and the topic is on this subject, you'll be able to understand and you'll be able to use them in conversation.
当这些内容出现在新闻中或成为讨论的话题时，你就能理解它们，并能在对话中运用它们。
Let's start by talking about what tariffs are.
我们先来谈谈什么是关税。
And key phrases to learn right from the start.
还有一些关键短语，需要从一开始就认真学习。
So a tariff is a tax placed on goods imported from another country.
关税是对从其他国家进口的商品征收的一种税。
So some key vocabulary here are imports and exports and taxes.
这里的一些关键词汇包括“进口”、“出口”和“税收”。
I'll leave a glossary.
我会留下一个术语表。
In the description so you can learn these.
在描述中，你可以了解到这些内容。
But let's start with a simple example.
不过，我们先从一个简单的例子开始吧。
Imagine the US buys steel from China, but the US government adds a 25% tariff.
想象一下：美国从中国进口钢材，但美国政府对此征收了25%的关税。
That means Chinese steel becomes 25% more expensive unless the Chinese steel companies reduce their prices.
这意味着中国钢铁的价格将上涨25%，除非中国的钢铁企业能够降低自己的售价。
We'll talk about the reasons that countries are adding tariffs later, but first, here are some more examples.
我们稍后会讨论各国征收关税的原因，不过首先，这里还有一些其他的例子。
If the US has tariffs on European cheese, this means that the imported cheese costs more so.
如果美国对欧洲进口的奶酪征收关税，那么这些进口奶酪的价格就会相应上涨。
People in the US might make different choices, and if there are tariffs on smartphones, then these imported phones become more expensive than local phones.
美国的人们可能会做出不同的选择；如果对智能手机征收关税，那么这些进口手机的价格就会比国产手机更贵。
European countries have tariffs too.
欧洲各国也征收关税。
So there are tariffs or there were
因此，现在仍然存在关税（或者说曾经存在过关税）。
tariffs on American made cars, meaning that cars bought in the EU from America were more expensive than cars assembled or cars made in Europe.
针对美国制造的汽车征收的关税意味着：在欧盟购买的美国产汽车，其价格要比在欧洲组装或生产的汽车更高。
Often when we're talking about this, we're going to use the passive voice, okay?
当我们谈论这个话题时，通常会使用被动语态，明白吗？
So we can use the passive voice to explain this a little bit more.
因此，我们可以使用被动语态来更详细地解释这一点。
For example, tariffs are added to imported goods.
例如，进口商品需要缴纳关税。
So we can use this to make tariffs the focus and say tariffs are added to imported goods.
因此，我们可以利用这一点将关税作为关注的重点，并说明关税是针对进口商品征收的。
Another one is, taxes are collected by the government.
另一个需要说明的是：税收是由政府征收的。
Taxes are collected by the government.
税收由政府征收。
And another example is prices are increased to protect local businesses.
另一个例子是：通过提高价格来保护当地企业。
So that is the simple explanation of what tariffs are.
这就是关于关税的简单解释。
It is basically attacks on imports to make them more expensive.
这些行为本质上是对进口商品进行的攻击，目的是让它们的价格变得更高。
But why do governments want to use tariffs?
但为什么政府想要使用关税呢？
At the moment, a lot of tariffs being added are coming from the United States, and at the moment as well,
目前，新增的许多关税都来自美国。
the United States is trying to make trade deals with other countries, and a lot of this seems to be political,
美国正在努力与其他国家达成贸易协议，而其中很多内容似乎都具有政治性质。
but there are other reasons why countries add tariffs.
不过，各国征收关税还有其他原因。
The first reason, and this is not just related to the US but just in general, the first reason is to protect local jobs,
第一个原因（这不仅与美国有关，而是一般情况下都适用）是为了保护当地的就业机会。
so to protect local jobs and local industries.
这样做是为了保护当地的就业机会和当地产业。
And when we're talking about this, we often use modal verbs for possibility of something happening.
当我们讨论这个问题时，经常会使用情态动词来表达某事发生的可能性。
So instead of just saying, it happens like tariffs protect local jobs, you can use the word can or might or could.
因此，与其只是简单地说“关税能够保护当地就业机会”，你可以使用“可能”（can/might/could）这样的词语来表达这种可能性。
So you might want to use these types of modal verbs instead by saying tariffs can protect local jobs,
因此，你或许应该改用这类情态动词来表达观点，比如可以说“关税可以保护本地就业机会”。
tariffs might protect local jobs.
关税可能会保护当地就业机会。