为推动进出口贸易均衡发展，出口退税调整方案终于出台。根据此次公布的方案，钢材、纺织品等的出口退税率下调，而重大技术装备、部分高科技产品、农产品加工品的出口退税率则上调。

请看《中国日报》相关报道：China cut export tariff rebates on products including steel, textiles and some non-ferrous minerals to rein in overseas sales of energy-intensive industries and potentially curb the country's record trade surplus.

The changes, effective Friday, include a reduction in tariff rebates on steel products to 8 percent from 11 percent, on textiles to 11 percent from 13 percent.

报道中的export tariff rebate就是“出口退税”，指“对出口商品已征收的国内税部分或全部退还给出口商”，旨在让本国产品以不含税成本进入国际市场，从而增强该商品的国际竞争力，扩大出口创汇。

单词rebate指“退款”，日常生活中，我们常用它来形容“回扣”，如：interest rebate（利息回扣）。在此，请区别rebate（回扣，退款）和discount（折扣，打折）的区别，看例句：

A rebate is distinguished from a discount in that the former is not taken out or deducted in advance but is handed back after payment of the full amount.（退款不同于折扣，退款不是先行扣除，而是在钱全数付清后退还。）

（英语点津陈蓓编辑）