The dollar has been weakening against several major currencies. One euro is currently worth about one dollar forty cents. A British pound is worth over 2 dollars.

与几个世界主要货币相比，美元一直处于疲软状态，最近1欧元约值1.4美元，1英磅值2美元多。

 Many widely traded products are bought and sold in dollars. These commodities include oil, soybeans and metals like copper. A weak dollar can mean a better deal for foreign buyers. But oil producers and countries that tie the value of their own money to the dollar, weakness reduces their purchasing power.

大部分贸易产品都是用美元来进行买卖，这类商品包括石油、大豆及诸如铜之类的金属。弱势美元对国外购买者来说可能意味着是更好的买卖。但对各石油生产商及本国货币与美元紧密相连的国家而言，美元的削弱会降低了他们的购买力。

A weak dollar, though, may help reduce the American trade deficit because it makes American exports less costly. But in the United States it can raise the cost of imports. An exception is imports from China.

尽管，弱势美元有可能有助于减少美国的贸易逆差，因为它使得美国的出口成本降低了，但也使美国的进口成本有所增加。而从中国进口则是一个例外。

The Chinese government sets the value of the yuan on foreign exchanges. This year the yuan has increased less than 4% against the weakening dollar. This has kept the prices of Chinese imports low.

中国政府设置了人民币的外汇汇率，今年人民币对弱势美元的比率增加了近4%。这使得中国的进品货物价格持续较低。

In other cases, however, a weak dollar hurts American businesses that deal in imported goods. They may have to raise prices or sacrifice profits. Many companies do not want to raise their prices for fear that they may lose market share.

然而，从另一方面来看，弱势美元使得美国从事进口货物的行业受到了损伤，他们有可能不得不提高价格或是牺牲利润。其实许多公司因为担心他们的市场份额，都不愿意提高他们商品的价格。