双语新闻：美国一样爱搞保护主义

2014-07-08 15:53:38来源：可可英语

　　Siemens sweetened its bid for Alstom’s energy unitsMonday in an effort to finally woo not only the company, but also, more importantly, French officials.

　　周一，西门子(Siemens )提高了对阿尔斯通(Alstom)能源业务的报价，目的不光是要打动这家公司，更重要的是还要打动法国政府。

　　Lawmakers in the European country have been meddling in the deal to get the best outcome for French interests, including promises of jobs, research centers and turbines for nuclear plants.

　　法国国会议员一直在干预这项交易，目的是为法国争取最大的利益，包括让西门子在工作机会、研究中心以及核电站汽轮机问题上做出承诺。

　　But the French aren’t the only officials putting pressure on global corporate deals this year.

　　不过，今年对国际性企业活动施加压力的并不是只有法国政府。

　　The U.K. parliament pressured Pfizer for employment promises on top of its $117 billion AstraZeneca bid. And the U.S. has reportedly threatened BNP Paribas with fines as high as $10 billion for business dealings in Iran.

　　在辉瑞(Pfizer)斥资1170亿美元收购阿斯利康(AstraZeneca)的过程中，英国议会迫使辉瑞在就业机会方面做出了承诺。据报道，美国政府已经威胁要对法国巴黎银行(BNP Paribas)处以高达100亿美元的罚款，原因是后者在伊朗进行经营活动。

　　Political interference in business deals is not new. Consider, for example, the European Commission’s vetoing of the Honeywell-GE merger in 2001, or Italian gas-company Enel’s thwarted interest in Suez’s Belgian unit in 2006.

　　政治对企业活动施加干预并不新鲜。想想看，2001年欧盟委员会(European Commission)否决了霍尼韦尔(Honeywell)和通用电气(GE)的合并计划，意大利国家电力公司(Enel)2006年入股苏伊士集团(Suez)比利时子公司的计划同样受阻。

　　The U.S. likes to think of itself as the bastion of free market capitalism. President Obama has recently touted the nation’s freedom from interference:

　　美国喜欢把自己视为自由市场资本主义的大本营。奥巴马总统最近还在鼓吹美国的自由不受限制：

　　“I do not tell the Attorney General how to prosecute cases that have been brought. I have communicated that to President Hollande,” said President Obama in response to French pressure to intervene in U.S. threats to fine BNP Paribas over alleged business dealings in Iran.

　　由于美国政府指责法国巴黎银行在伊朗开展业务并威胁要处以罚款，法国方面也插手了这件事，同时对美国施压。对此，奥巴马总统回应道：“我并没有告诉司法部长怎样就这些已经出现的案件提起诉讼。我已经就此和奥朗德总统进行了沟通。”

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