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Step back a bit, however, and the TFA looks rather bedraggled.
然而，稍微退一步來看，貿易便利化協定看上去破舊不堪。
It rose out of the ashes of the Doha round, the last big attempt at a global trade deal, as the least controversial item.
它更像是多哈談判的死灰，多哈談判曾是之前對全球貿易協定的巨大嘗試，也是擁有最小爭議的條款。
Grand trade deals, never very high on governments' agendas, have in recent decades aimed more at locking in existing practice than at winning important new concessions.
大型的貿易交易，政府從來不重視這件事情，近幾十年交易的目標更側重鎖定現行的慣例，而不是取得更重要的讓步。
The TFA reflects curtailed ambition, after plans for agreements in areas such as intellectual property and trade in services were abandoned.
在諸如知識產權以及貿易服務領域的計劃協議被中止后，貿易便利化協定映射出了被削減后的目標。
Its cuddly inclusivity comes at a cost.
貿易協定可愛的包容性是有代價的。
Poorer countries have flexibility over which standards they will put in place immediately, which they need time for—and which they need money for.
貧窮國家可以靈活地選擇哪些標準它們將立即實施，哪些標準它們可以等待時日——以及哪些標準的實施還需要資金。
Some bits of the agreement are exhortations rather than rules. Implementation may be slow.
協定的某些部分是勸告而不是規定。施行這個協定也許會進展緩慢。
A study published in December 2016 noted that even when regional trade agreements include trade-facilitation provisions, they are not always put into effect.
一項2016年12月發布的研究指出，即便區域貿易協定包括了貿易便利化條款，它們也不一定會得到實施。
A committee will oversee implementation, but insiders doubt how much pressure non-compliant governments will really face.
有一個委員會將會監督貿易協定的實施，但是內部人士懷疑那些不服從規定的國家真正會面臨多大的壓力。
Eight months after Mr Azevedo triumphantly hailed the WTO's success in brokering its first deal, India very nearly scuppered it, holding it hostage over an unrelated argument about agricultural subsidies. (WTO wonks still smart at the memory.)
阿澤維多在撮成第一項協議敲定并勝利地宣布世貿組織成果的八個月后，印度差一點就否決了它，把它作為另一不相關的農業補貼提議的籌碼。（世貿組織里的政策書呆子在記憶力方面還是機靈的。）
Eventually, America thrashed out a compromise in a side-agreement.
最終，美國在一份單邊協定中進行了妥協。
So the TFA's history highlights the belligerence of some governments; and, alarmingly for those following the pronouncements on trade of the new Trump administration, the importance of American leadership.
因此，貿易便利化協定的歷史突顯了一些國家的好戰性；同時也警告了那些特朗普政府的貿易政策聲明中的追隨者——美國領導力的重要性。
考研英語時事閱讀
