紐時賞析／川普關稅衝擊自家人 美國現囤貨潮：加劇經濟焦慮

Stock Up? Wait It Out? Shoppers Are Divided.

趕快買？再等等？關稅影響美國人買氣

Charlene and Phil Willingham had been thinking for a while about replacing their 20-year-old kitchen appliances, but with the sudden prospect of rising costs, they decided that this was the moment. The Willinghams turned up at a store in the suburbs of Chicago on Friday with a long shopping list: stove, refrigerator, microwave oven and dishwasher.

夏琳和費爾．威林罕夫婦一直考慮更換他們用了20年的廚房電器，但隨著成本突然上漲的可能性出現，他們決定現在是時候更換電器。威林罕夫婦周五突然出現在芝加哥郊區一間商店，手中是長長的購物清單：鍋爐、冰箱、微波爐和洗碗機。

“We were going to take our time to get new appliances, but now because of these tariffs, I want to get them before any price increases take place,” Charlene Willingham, 64, said while shopping at the Abt Electronics store in Glenview, Illinois. Of the Trump administration’s sweeping announcement of tariffs around the world last week, she said, “It sort of set the fire.”

64歲的夏琳．威林罕在伊利諾州格倫維尤阿布特電器行購物時說：「我們本打算慢慢購入新電器，但現在因為關稅，我想在價格上漲錢買到它們。」對於川普政府上周宣布對全球全面加徵關稅，她說，「這某種程度上是在放火」。

In grocery stores, car dealerships, malls and big discount chains around the country, interviews with more than two dozen Americans this weekend showed that many were racing to figure out how to get ahead of the new tariffs plan, quickly making calculated purchases, big and small.

在全美雜貨店、汽車經銷商、購物中心及大型折扣連鎖店，本周末針對數十名美國人的採訪都顯示，許多人都在爭分奪秒地去想如何在新關稅計畫實施前，快速且精打細算地採買大小物品。

“The panic is enough to make me want to buy,” Shali Santos, 28, said, after stocking up on essentials in bulk at a Costco Wholesale store in Marina del Rey, a community in Los Angeles County, and noticing that many people around her seemed to be stocking up more than usual on similar staples.

28歲的夏莉．桑托斯在加州洛杉磯郡社區瑪麗安德爾灣的好市多量販店大量囤積必需品後，說：「恐慌足以讓我想購物。」她也注意到周圍的人們似乎比平常囤積了更多類似生活用品。

Others said their shopping habits were unchanged by the tariffs announcement, largely because they had patience and trust in the president’s long game, and figured that any short-term pain, including potential cost hikes, would work itself out.

其他人表示，他們的購物習慣沒有因宣布加徵關稅改變，很大程度上是因為他們有耐心且相信總統川普的長期政策，認為任何短期的痛苦，包括花費可能大幅提高，最終會自行解決。

“I’m confident it will recover,” Gregg Harris, 61, said as he shopped at a Walmart in Nashville, Tennessee.

61歲的哈里斯在田納西州納什維爾的一間沃爾瑪門市購物時，說：「我有信心它會恢復。」

Nearly all, though, expressed lingering uncertainty about exactly how these tariffs — at least a 10% government surcharge on nearly all goods imported into the United States as well as higher rates on goods from many countries — would play out in their daily lives. How and when might prices be affected by President Donald Trump’s moves? What items might be most hard hit? Even if they knew the answers to such questions, some asked, could they really afford purchasing big-ticket items right now to avoid higher costs later?

不過，幾乎所有人對於這些關稅如何確切影響他們的生活仍不確定。美國政府對幾乎所有進口美國的商品額外加徵10%的關稅，並對來自許多國家的商品加徵更高的關稅。價格會如何又在何時受到總統川普措施影響？哪些物品可能受到最嚴重打擊？有些人會問，即使他們知道這類問題的答案，他們真有足夠能力購買昂貴物品以免日後花費更高成本嗎？

Many shoppers said the prospect of tariffs simply added to anxiety about an already unforgiving economy. Even if prices had yet to surge, uncertainty about what was ahead and sudden declines to retirement savings accounts were worrying signs.

許多購物者表示，關稅前景只是加劇對於已經狀況惡劣的經濟的焦慮。即使物價尚未飛漲，對於前景的不確定性和退休儲蓄帳戶存款突然減少，都是令人憂心的徵兆。

文／Orlando Mayorquín　譯／羅方妤

說文解字看新聞

【張佑生】

新冠疫情期間曾出現的「爆買」(panic buy/panic buying)現象似乎重出江湖，其實就是所謂的「搶購」。川普政府對全球祭出關稅，羊毛出在羊身上，進口到美國的貨品價格勢必上升，消費者先搶先贏的心態不難理解：Anxiety over the virus led to panic buying and empty shelves in stores.本文的消費者可不認為自己是湊熱鬧，而是精打細算後才決定掏腰包(making calculated purchases)。

Appliance指裝置、器械，尤其是家電用品，可數名詞：electric/domestic/household appliances.英文至少有5個近義字，個別差異詳參韋氏詞典：https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/appliance.

Big-ticket是美式俚語，只能放在名詞前面，形容昂貴：big-ticket items such as cars or jewelry.作者用unforgiving形容經濟現況，指惡劣、不饒人的：The island is an unforgiving place in winter.