TPP计划进展恐陷入深度僵局
Barack Obama spent the weekend scrambling to rescue his trade agenda amid warnings from US negotiating partners overseas that a failure by Congress to back the president would put plans for an ambitious Pacific Rim trade zone into a deep freeze.
巴拉克•奥巴马(Barack Obama)在刚刚过去的周末奋力挽救其贸易议程，同时美国的海外谈判伙伴警告称，若美国国会不支持奥巴马，雄心勃勃的环太平洋贸易区计划将陷入深度冻结。Republicans and a small band of Democrats on Friday narrowly voted to grant Mr Obama the fast-track authority he needs to close the Trans-Pacific Partnership with Japan and 10 other countries, a deal that would be the largest concluded in a generation.
上周五，共和党以及为数不多的民主党议员在投票中以微弱优势授予奥巴马“快车道”授权，这是他与日本等11个国家达成《跨太平洋伙伴关系》（Trans-Pacific Partnership，简称TPP）所需要的。TPP将是一代人以来最大规模的贸易协定。
But in a significant rebuke to their president, Democrats defeated a related bill that would have extended a decades-old training and income-support programme for workers dislocated because of trade that the party and unions have long championed.
但是，民主党投票否决了另一个相关议案，该议案的目的是延长一个实行了数十年的培训和收入支持计划，面向因贸易而失业的美国工人；民主党及工会长期支持这个计划。此举是对民主党籍的美国总统的重大非难。
Because the two bills are tied together, the move by Democrats, which was cheered on loudly by labour unions and demonstrated the power they still have within the party, meant that, on procedural grounds, the “fast-track” bill will be held up from becoming law.
因为这两个议案是绑定在一起的，民主党此举（受到工会热烈欢呼，说明了他们在该党内部仍有影响力）意味着，从程序上说，“快车道”议案将无法成为法律。Congress is expected to vote again on the Trade Adjustment Assistance programme as early as tomorrow and the president and Republicans spent the weekend trying to find a way around the Democratic opposition. If that effort fails, however, Tim Groser, New Zealand trade minister, warned over the weekend, “I think we’ve got to be realistic, I don’t think this [TPP] negotiation will get up again for another two years”, when there will be a new US president.
预计国会最早将于明日就“贸易调整援助计划”(TAA)再次投票，同时奥巴马和共和党周末忙于寻找绕开民主党反对的途径。然而，新西兰贸易部长蒂姆•格罗泽(Tim Groser)在周末警告称，如果那项努力失败，“我认为我们必须现实些，我不认为TPP谈判能够在两年内重启”，两年后将有一位新的美国总统。In his weekly radio address, Mr Obama appealed to Democrats, saying as many as 100,000 Americans would be hurt if the programme was allowed to expire. “For the sake of those workers, their families, and their communities, I urge those members of Congress who voted against Trade Adjustment Assistance to reconsider, and stand up for American workers,” he said.
奥巴马在每周一次的电台讲话中向民主党发出呼吁，称如果该计划未能通过，将有多达10万美国人受到伤害。“为了这些工人、他们的家庭以及它们的社区，我敦促那些投票反对TAA的国会成员重新考虑，捍卫美国工人的权益，”他称。
