又中又英 | Chicken Feet | 褚簡寧

　　During my time as a journalist in Washington in the 1990s, I wrote a news article about chicken feet. A senior executive of a Virginia poultry company visited Hong Kong where he saw people eating chicken feet in dim sum restaurants. Chicken farming is a huge industry in Virginia, but most Americans don't eat chicken feet. They get grossed out by the look and taste of chicken feet. If you get grossed out by something, it means you get disgusted by it. Years ago, I mistakenly ate sliced chicken feet in a Thai salad. It tasted icky. I spat it out.

　　If something tastes icky, it means it tastes unpleasant or disgusting. The word "yucky" has a similar meaning. US farmers sell chicken feet at very low cost to companies which turn them into food for pets and chickens. The executive who saw people eating chicken feet in Hong Kong realized his company could make far more money exporting the chicken feet to Hong Kong and China. The export of chicken feet to Asia has since become big business for American poultry companies. But US President Donald Trump’s trade tariffs war with China has seriously affected America's chicken feet exports.

　　After Trump imposed very high tariffs on Chinese goods entering the US, China imposed tit for tat tariffs on US goods entering mainland China. The expression "tit for tat" means doing something identical to what others have done to you. China's tariffs against US goods entering the Chinese market includes poultry, which means chicken feet too. This makes American chicken feet too expensive in China. Hong Kong has not imposed tit for tat tariffs on US goods. This means Hong Kong people can still enjoy American chicken feet!

　　1990年代我在華盛頓當記者的時期，寫過一篇關於雞腳的新聞報道。維珍尼亞州一間家禽公司的一個高級行政人員來到香港，在茶樓看到人們在吃鳳爪。在維珍尼亞州，養雞業是個龐大的產業，但大部分美國人都不會吃雞腳。他們對於雞腳的外形和味道感到grossed out——若你get grossed out by something，意即你對某事物感惡心、作嘔。許多年前，我在一個泰式沙律中誤吃了切成薄片的雞腳，它吃着是黏糊糊的（tasted icky），我不禁吐了出來。

　　若某物tastes icky，意即它的味道令人厭惡、作嘔。Yucky一字的意思也相近。美國養雞戶以非常低廉的價錢把雞腳賣給某些公司，將之轉做給寵物和雞吃的食物。當那名行政人員見到香港人吃雞腳時，便知道他的公司若把雞腳出口到香港和中國內地，可以賺更多的錢。自此，外銷給亞洲的雞腳便成為美國家禽企業的一項大生意。然而，美國總統當勞．特朗普的關稅貿易戰，已大大影響到美國雞腳的出口。

　　在特朗普向進口美國的中國貨品徵收非常高的關稅後，中國也向進口中國內地的美國貨品徵收tit for tat的關稅——習語tit for tat就是以牙還牙、針鋒相對的還擊。中國對美國進口中國市場的貨物的關稅，也包括家禽，亦即包括雞腳。這就令中國的美國雞腳變得太昂貴了。香港並未向美國貨物實施以牙還牙式（tit for tat）的關稅，意即香港人還可以大吃特吃美國雞腳！

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Michael Chugani褚簡寧
中譯：七刻