Dear Sirs:

     Thank you for your letter of 20 January 2006. We are disappointed to hear that our price for Flame cigarette lighters¹ is too high for you to work on. You mentioned that Japanese goods are being offered to you at a price approximately 10% lower than that quoted by us.

     We accept what you say, but we are of the opinion that the quality of the other makes does not measure up to that of our products.

     Although we are keen to do business with you, we regret that we cannot accept your counter offer or even meet you half way.

     The best we can do is to reduce our previous quotation² by 2%. We trust that this will meet with your approval. We look forward to hearing from you.

                                           Yours faithfully,

                                               Tony Smith Chief Seller

参考译文

      先生:
      二零零六年元月二十日来函收到，不胜感激。得知贵公司认为火焰牌打火机价格过高，无利可图，本公司极感遗憾。来函又提及日本同类货品报价较其低近百分之十。
      本公司认同来函的说法，然而，其他厂商的产品质量绝对不能与本公司的相提并论。
      虽然极望与贵公司交易，但该还盘较本公司报价相差极大，故未能接受贵公司定单。
      特此调整报价，降价百分之二，祈盼贵公司满意。
      谨候佳音。

　　                                                           销售经理

　　                                                            托尼－斯密思谨上

　　                                                                2006年1月20日