过去20年的大部分时间里，在那些致力于将其生产业务转移到低成本国家(特别是中国)的美国公司帮助下，美国的通货膨胀率一直受到抑制。这些美国公司现在却可能正反过来推涨美国的通胀率。

　　During much of the past couple decades, American companies, efforts to shift their production to low-cost locales--China in particular--have helped keep a lid on inflation in the U.S.

　　That benefit may now be reversing itself. 中国吸引全球制造业的一些有利条件正在丧失。在美国官员的压力下，中国正逐渐允许汇率低得出名的人民币兑美元升值。与此同时，中国工人的工资也在以每年高达30%的幅度提高。

　　Some of the advantages that made China a magnet for global manufacturing are fading. Under pressure from U.S. officials, China is gradually allowing its famously cheap currency to rise against the dollar. At the same time, Chinese workers' wages are increasing at an annual rate of as much as 30%.

　　上述变化在美国产生的一个影响就是，据美国劳工部(Labor Department)说，今年1至3月，中国输美商品的平均价格折合成年率的升幅为5.2%，这是2008年8月以来的最快升速。

　　In one sign of the effect of those changes in the U.S., the average price of goods imported from China rose at an annualized rate of 5.2% in the three months through March, according to the Labor Department. That's the fastest pace since August 2008.

　　中国在美国经济中所扮演的角色正在发生变化，使人有理由重新考虑在当前全球经济复苏中通货膨胀可能发生的方式。在传统观点看来，当一个国家的人开始要求加薪以抵消物价不断上涨产生的影响时，这个国家的物价会失去控制，因为这种局面下会形成螺旋形通货膨胀，即工资和物价相互助推。到目前为止，这种螺旋形通货膨胀局面还不大可能出现在美国，美国的高失业率正在削弱工人在工资上讨价还价的能力。

　　The changing role of China in the U.S. economy offers reason to reconsider the way inflation might arise in the current global recovery. In the traditional view, a country's prices get out of control when people start demanding raises to offset rising consumer prices, creating an inflationary spiral in which wages and prices reinforce one another. Such a spiral is, so far, unlikely in the U.S., where high unemployment is undermining workers' bargaining power.

　　但站在全球经济的角度看，中国不断上涨的工资水平(全球市场对中国产品的需求对此起了一定刺激作用)会促使美国和其他国家出现螺旋形通货膨胀局面吗？

　　But in a global economy, could rising wages in China--spurred on in part by global demand for Chinese-made goods--help get the spiral going in the U.S. and elsewhere?

　　可以看看美国雷克兰工业公司(Lakeland Industries Inc.)首席执行长赖安(Christopher Ryan)的说法。这家公司生产从军用到半导体生产等诸多领域所需的防护设备。赖安最近将该公司在美国市场所售产品的价格上调了5%，因为过去一年中雷克兰公司的成本也上升了5%，而过去几年中这些产品的价格几乎没有变动过。成本上升主要是因为大宗商品价格的飙升，但赖安说成本上升约有20%要归因于中国工人的工资和福利不断提高。雷克兰公司目前约一半的生产业务在中国进行。

　　Consider the case of Christopher Ryan, chief executive at Lakeland Industries Inc. (LAKE) , which manufactures protective gear for purposes ranging from firefighting to semiconductor production. He recently raised his prices in the U.S. by 5%, after holding them flat for most of the last few years, because his costs have risen by the same amount in the past year. Most of the cost increase reflects soaring commodity prices, but he attributes about a fifth of it to rising wages and benefits in China, where his company does about half its manufacturing.

　　他说，中国劳动力价格的提高显然正在推高美国的产品价格。

　　"Obviously the increase in labor prices in China is increasing our prices in the United States," he says.

　　当然，进口产品在美国所需消费品中的占比相对较小。中国工资水平上涨对加拿大等更依赖对外贸易的经济体可能会产生更大的影响。

　　To be sure, imports make up a relatively small share of U.S. consumption. The effect could be greater in more trade-dependent economies such as Canada.

　　此外，企业虽然很可能会另找成本低廉的地方去从事生产，但这或许需要一定时间。赖安估计，如果中国的生产成本继续以目前这样的速度提高，墨西哥在两到三年内将再度成为有竞争力的制造业基地。

　　Also, companies will most likely find another place to manufacture cheaply. But that could take a while. Ryan estimates that if the cost of manufacturing in China keeps rising at the same rate, Mexico will become competitive again as a manufacturing base in two or three years.

　　与此同时，中国价格可能会对中国那些已习惯于依赖中国提供大多数消费品和其他产品的贸易伙伴造成一些问题。

　　In the meantime, the China price could create some problems for trading partners who have come to rely on the country for much of their supply of consumer and other goods.