Vocabulary

1. operation – 1) действие, работа ,функционирование; 2) торговля, финансовая операция; 3) предприятие, подразделение

2. shift – (рабочая) смена, рабочий день

3. robust – устойчивый, крепкий, сильный

4. to blunt – притуплять, ослабить, снижать, сдерживать

TEXT 2

Translate the article into Russian orally.

EU Berates China over Steel Subsidies

The European Commission has concluded that China is providing illegal subsidies to its steel manufacturers, paving the way for European companies to seek higher import tariffs on a wide range of Chinese products.

The EU executive arm said Beijing was helping makers of organic coated steel – used in construction and to make household appliances – to obtain materials at below market prices, according to a report obtained by the Financial Times.

The report comes amid high tensions between China and the EU across a range of industries from solar panels to telecommunications equipment. It recommends hitting imports of Chinese coated steel with countervailing duties of up to 50 per cent. Last year, the commission imposed provisional anti-dumping duties of up to 58 per cent on Chinese steel producers over a related complaint.

The move should provide relief to European steelmakers such as ArcelorMittal and ThyssenKrupp which have seen demand sag because of the economic crisis and have also lost market share to Chinese rivals.

The findings could have wider repercussions for a host of European industries if they establish that China provides rolled steel – a key ingredient in making coated steel – to manufacturers at heavily subsidised prices.

The report said China provided the subsidies mainly through export restrictions that artificially lower prices of rolled steel for domestic manufacturers. The EU and US have already challenged this practice at the World Trade Organisation for a host of other raw materials.

Beijing has repeatedly denied that its subsidies are illegal, and has pointed instead to a range of support schemes employed by Brussels and European governments to support European companies.

The Financial Times, January 2013.

Vocabulary

1. to berate – ругать, бранить

2. to pave the way – прокладывать путь, готовить почву

3. arm – подразделение, отдел, управление

4. organic coated steel – сталь с органическим напылением

5. rolled steel – стальной прокат

6. amid – на фоне, в условиях, среди, между

7. household appliance – бытовой прибор

8. duty – таможенная пошлина

9. countervailing duty – компенсационная пошлина

10. provisional duty – временная пошлина

11. repercussion – последствия, влияние

TEXT 3

Translate the article into Russian orally.

Euro-MPs Vote to Extend Sugar Quotas

A plan to liberalise the EU sugar market, one of the most highly subsidised aspects of European agricultural policy, has been thrown into doubt after lawmakers rejected a proposal to end production quotas by 2015.

The European Parliament’s agriculture committee voted instead to extend the quotas until 2020. Some observers predicted they could last well beyond that.

The vote drew a harsh reaction from food and drink companies, which view the quota system as a protectionist relic and blame it for supply shortages and EU sugar prices are roughly 50 per cent higher than those on world markets.

The quota system dates back to the 1960s, and was established as a way to ensure stable prices for Europe’s beet farmers. Since then, it has also enriched a collection of large European sugar companies.

Supply shortages have become acute in recent years, with last year’s quota of 13.8m tonnes failing to keep pace with EU consumption of more than 16.5m tonnes. The price of sugar has risen to more than €700 per tonne in the EU, compared with world prices of just under €500.

EU prices have also been supported by high tariffs on imported sugar from all but the poorest countries.

Under pressure from the World Trade Organisation, the EU adjusted its sugar policy in 2006, and member states agreed to end production quotas by 2015. The European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, has submitted a formal proposal to do so as part of its broader review of the common agricultural policy.

But the agriculture committee’s vote makes that unlikely. Germany and France, the EU’s biggest member states, are also thought to favour an extension of the quotas.

An extension of the quotas – and the high tariffs – will be particularly painful for small and medium-sized food companies, which have struggled to secure supplies, while maintaining profits for big sugar companies.

The Financial Times, January 2013.