Conversations

　　Dialogue 1

　　A: I’ve come to hear about your offer for bristles.

　　B: We have the offer ready for you. Let me see ... here it is. 100 cases Houston Bristles, 57 mm, at 10 pounds sterling per kilogram, C.I.F

　　European Main Ports, for shipment in June 2001. The offer is valid for five days.

　　A: Why, your price has soared. It’s almost 25% higher than last year’s. It would be impossible for us to push any sales at such a price.

　　B: I’m a little surprised to hear you say that. You know very well that markets for bristles have gone up a great deal in recent months. The price we offer compares favorably with quotations you can get elsewhere.

　　-- 我是来听取你们对猪鬃的报盘。

　　-- 我们已为你准备好了报盘。让我找一找，啊，在这里，100箱57毫 米休斯敦猪鬃，每公斤成本加运费保险费到欧洲主要口岸价10英 镑，2001年6月交货。报盘五天有效。

　　-- 为什么你方的价格猛涨，几乎比去年高出25%?按这种价格，我方 实在难以销售。

　　-- 你这样说让我有点惊讶。近月来猪鬃市价涨了很多。我方所报的价格与你从别处能获得的价格相比，是较为便宜的。

　　A: I’m afraid I can’t agree with you there. I must point out your price is higher than some of the quotations we’ve received from other sources.

　　B: But you must take the quality into consideration. Everyone in the trade knows that US’s bristles are of superior quality to those from other countries.

　　A: I agree that yours are of better quality. But there’s competition from synthetic products, too. You can’t very well ignore that. Prices for synthetic bristles haven’t changed much over the years.

　　B: There’s practically no substitute for bristles for certain uses. That’s why demand for natural bristles keeps rising in spite of cheaper synthetic ones. To be frank with you, if it were not for the long- standing relationship between us, we would hardly be willing to make you a firm offer at this price.

　　A: Well, we’ll have a lot of difficulties in persuading our clients to buy at this price. But I’ll have to try, I suppose.

　　-- 恐怕我不同意你的说法，你们的价格比我们从别处所得到的一些报价高。

　　-- 但是你方必须考虑到质量的问题。同行中人人皆知美国猪鬃质地优于其他国家的供货。

　　-- 我承认你们的猪鬃质量高，但还有人造制品的竞争。你恐怕不能忽视这一点吧。今年来，人造制品的价格并无多大变化。

　　-- 在某些用途方面，几乎没有东西可以代替猪鬃。尽管人造制品价格 便宜，但对天然猪鬃的需求还在不断增长，原因就在这里。老实 说，如果不是为了我们双方长期以来的关系，我们不大可能以这样 的价格向你方报实盘的。

　　-- 唉，要说服客户以这个价格购买，对我们来说还真不容易。不过看来，我得试一试。

　　Dialogue 2

　　A: I believe you’ve studied our proposal for fertilizers.

　　B: Yes, Mr. Smith. And we’re very much interested.

　　A: It’s almost twenty years since we first supplied you with our

　　products in 1984. To our regret, for one reason or another, business between us has failed to develop. I hope we’ll succeed in concluding some business this time.

　　B: As we’ve repeatedly stated, US does business on the basis of equality, mutual benefit and exchange of needed goods. If these principles are adhered to, I’m certain that mutually beneficial

　　business will result.

　　-- 我相信你们已经仔细研究过了我们的肥料报盘。

　　-- 是的，史密斯先生，我们对此很感兴趣。

　　-- 我们于1984年首次向你方供应产品至今差不多已有20年之久。由于种种原因，我们之间的业务未能继续下去，对此我们感到很遗 憾。希望我们这次能达成一些交易。

　　-- 我们一再说明，美国是在平等互利、互通有无的基础上进行贸易 的。若遵循了这些原则，我确信能够达成对双方都有利的交易。

　　A: May we hear your comments on your products?

　　B: We find the quality of your samples well up to standard and suitable for our requirements. On the other hand, we’re received offers for higher quality products. So business depends very much on your prices.

　　A: Taking everything into consideration, you’ll find that our prices compare favorably with the quotations you can get elsewhere. /pp　　B: I’m not sure of that. Before coming to the discussion of price, may I point out that we would like to have you quote us on a F. O.B. basis? /pp　　A: I don’t quite understand. For bulk goods such as chemical /pp　　fertilizers, it’s the sellers who arrange the shipping space. It is more convenient for us, as well as for you. /pp　　B: Well, we prefer to have the US National Chartering Corporation take care of the shipping. It doesn’t make a difference to you, does it? /pp　　A: Well, it does make a slight difference, but we’ll do as you request. /pp　　-- 请对我们的产品提提意见好吗? /pp　　-- 我们认为你们的样品质量符合标准而且适合我们的需要，但是另一 方面，我们已收到高档货的报盘，所以业务能否成交在很大程度上 要看你方的价格。 /pp　　-- 如果把各种因素都加以考虑，你就会发现我们的价格比别处报的要 便宜。 /pp　　-- 这点我不敢肯定，在谈判价格之前，我想提出，我们希望你方报船 上交货的价格，行吗? /pp　　-- 我不大明白，象化肥这一类的大宗货得由卖方安排舱位。这对你我 都方便。 /pp　　-- 喔，我们宁愿由美国租船公司去负责装船。这对你方没有多大 区别，对不对? /pp　　-- 喔，稍稍有点区别，但我们可以照你的意见办。 /pp　　Dialogue 3 /pp　　A: I have here our price sheet on a F.O.B. basis. The prices are given without engagement. /pp　　B: Good, if you’ll excuse me, I’ll go over the sheet right now. /pp　　A: Take your time. /pp　　B: I can tell you at a glance that your prices are much too high. /pp　　A: I’m surprised to hear you say so. You know that the cost of pro- duction has been skyrocketing in recent years. /pp　　B: We only ask that your prices be comparable to others. That’s reasonable, isn’t it? /pp　　A: Well, to get the business done, we can consider making some concessions in our price. But first, you’ll have to give me an idea of the quantity you wish to order from us, so that we may adjust our prices accordingly. /pp　　-- 这是我们船上交货价的价目单。所报价格没有约束力。 /pp　　-- 很好。如果可以，我马上把价目单看一遍。 /pp　　-- 请便。 /pp　　-- 我一看这份价目单就知道你们的价格太高了。 /pp　　-- 你这么说我很吃惊。你知道近年来生产成本迅速上涨。 /pp　　-- 我们只要求你方的价格能和别人差不多就行了。这个要求很合理，对不对? /pp　　-- 好吧，为了成交，我们可以考虑作些让步，不过要请你先说明大概要订购多少，以便我们对价格作相应的调整。 /pp　　B: The size of our order depends greatly on the prices. Let’s settle that matter first. /pp　　A: Well, as I’ve said, if your order is large enough, we’re ready to reduce our prices by 2 percent. /pp　　B: When I say your prices are much too high, I don’t mean they are higher merely by 2 or 3 percent. /pp　　A: How much do you mean then? Can you give me a rough idea? /pp　　B: To have this business concluded, I should say a reduction of least 10 percent would help. /pp　　A: Impossible. How can you expect us to make a reduction to that extent? /pp　　B: I think you are as well - informed as I am about the market for chemical fertilizers. It’s unnecessary for me to point out that sup- ply exceeds demand at present and that this situation is apt to continue for a long time yet. May I suggest that you call your home office and see what they have to say? /pp　　A: Very well, I will. /pp　　-- 我们要订的数量很大程度上取决于价格，就让我们先解决价格问 题吧。 /pp　　-- 好吧，如果你们的订货数量很大，我们准备减价百分之二。 /pp　　-- 我说你们的价格太高，并不是说仅仅高出百分之二或三。 /pp　　-- 那么你说是多少呢?能不能说一个大概的数字? /pp　　-- 为了促成交易，我认为大约给百分之十的折扣才行。 /pp　　-- 不可能，你怎么能要求我们给那么大的折扣呢? /pp　　-- 有关化肥的行情，我想你和我一样都很了解。用不着我来指出， 目前的情况是供过于求，而且这种情况还要延续很长一段时间。 我建议你打个电话给你们公司，看看他们有什么意见? /pp　　-- 好吧，我打个电话问问。 /p