今天Robert的办公室出现了一个生面孔――Kevin Hughes，此人代表美国一家运动产品公司，专程来台湾寻找加工合作。接洽的加工产品市运动型“磁质石膏护垫”，受伤的运动员包上这种产品上场比赛，即可保护受伤部位，且不妨碍活动。现在，我们就来看看两人是如何开始谈判：

　　ROBERT: We found your proposal quite interesting, Mr. Hughes. We’d like to weigh the pros and cons（衡量得失）with you.
　　KEVIN: Mr. Robert Liu, we've looked all over Asia for a manufacturer; your company is one of the most suitable.

　　ROBERT: If we can settle a number of basic questions, I’m confident in saying that we are the most suitable for your needs.
　　KEVIN: I hope so. And what might be the basic questions you have?

　　ROBERT: First, do you intend to take a position in（投资于……）our company?
　　KEVIN: No, we don’t, Mr. Liu. This is just OEM.

　　ROBERT: I see. Then, the most important thing is the size of your orders. We’ll have to invest a great deal of money in the new production process.
　　KEVIN: If you can guarantee continuing quality, we can sign a commitment for 75,000 pieces a year, for five years.

　　ROBERT: At U.S. $1000 a piece, we’ll make an average return of just 4%. That’s too great a financial burden for us.
　　KEVIN: I’ll check the number later, but what do you propose?
　　ROBERT: Here’s how you can demonstrate commitment to this deal. Make it ten years, increase the unit price, and provide technology transfer.