China and the US have announced a major agreement to slash tariffs on electronic goods around the world, bringing a successful close to what had become a major test of the world’s two biggest economies’ ability to negotiate trade agreements.中美两国宣告达成协议了一项意义根本性的协议，表示同意大幅度缩减全球各地电子产品的关税，给两国长年的贸易谈判画下了顺利的句号，两国能否达成协议贸易协议早已沦为对全球两大经济体能力的根本性考验。The deal unveiled in Beijing on Tuesday ends an almost 18-month stand-off that had frozen negotiations among more than 50 countries to update the 1996 Information Technology Agreement.周二在北京宣告的协议，完结了一场将近18个月的对峙。这场对峙曾造成50多个国家目的修改1996年《信息技术协议》(Information Technology Agreement,ITA)的谈判被失效。

Speaking in Beijing president Barack Obama said the US and China have reached an “understanding” on expanding the pact that “will contribute to a rapid conclusion to the broader negotiations in Geneva”.美国总统巴拉克奥巴马(Barack Obama)在北京回应，美中两国已在不断扩大ITA协议问题上达成协议“协议书”，此举“将不利于在日内瓦举办的更加甚广范围谈判较慢已完成”。The agreement has yet to be signed off by other countries involved in the ITA talks, which have been taking place within the World Trade Organisation. That approval is expected to come within weeks, although the US-China deal does not cover flatscreen televisions or monitors which may prove a further irritation for big producers such as Japan and South Korea.该协议还必须获得ITA谈判的其他参予国的签署，此前ITA谈判仍然在世贸组织(WTA)框架内展开。

预计该协议在未来几周内将取得批准后，不过，美中协议范围不还包括平板电视。这有可能引发日本、韩国等平板电视生产大国的更大反感。Once implemented the ITA update will substantially lower tariffs and liberalise the trade in more than 250 categories of high-tech products ranging from wireless headsets to new semiconductors and medical devices.一旦继续执行之后，新版ITA将大幅度减少关税，使得逾250个种类的高科技产品——从无线耳麦到新型半导体和医疗设备——需要自由贸易。Beijing drastically reduced its list of excluded products to a few dozen earlier this year. The discussions with the US in recent weeks focused on fewer than 10 product categories including next-generation semiconductors, sophisticated measurement tools used in manufacturing and point-of-sale cards for downloading electronic games and other software.今年，中国方面大幅度延长了值得注意产品表格的长度，增加到几十种。

最近几周与美国的谈判集中于将近10个产品类别，还包括下一代半导体、加工中用于的先进设备测量工具，以及用作iTunes电子游戏等软件的POS机点卡。As recently as last week US officials were expressing frustration with China. But over the past few days discussions resumed in Beijing and by Monday the two sides were exchanging final texts and translations of an agreement.就在最近的上周，美国官员对中国回应了沮丧。

但过去几天里，谈判在北京重新启动，到周一双方就在互相交换一项协议的最后文本和翻译成版了。The only late outstanding issue came over whether to announce the deal on Tuesday as part of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit or during a state visit on Wednesday by President Barack Obama.唯一悬而未决的问题是这一协议该如何宣告——是作为周二在亚太经合组织(APEC)峰会成果，还是在美国总统于周三举办的国事访问时宣告。

本文来源：澳门威尼克斯人网站(MACAU)-www.didongsi.com