一项针对英国的民意调查显示，大多数英国人怀疑特朗普政府在正在进行的贸易谈判中会公平对待英国，更多人认为欧盟将是比美国更好的后英国退出欧盟贸易伙伴新闻周刊。

上周，英国贸易大臣利兹·特拉斯和美国贸易代表罗伯特·莱特希尔通过视频电话开启了正式的贸易谈判。

美国总统唐纳德·特朗普(Donald Trump)承诺，与欧盟向其前成员国提供的任何贸易协议相比，英国将获得“更大、更有利可图”的贸易协议。现在，随着冠状病毒大流行拖累经济，英国达成协议的风险更大。

特拉斯认为，由于跨大西洋贸易对帮助两国经济从冠状病毒的挑战中复苏的重要性，两国在很多方面都有既得利益。

然而，一项由雷德菲尔德威尔顿战略公司针对英国1500名18岁以上的成年人进行的在线调查显示新闻周刊表明大多数英国人对美国在会谈中的意图有所怀疑。

英国首相鲍里斯·约翰逊(右)欢迎唐纳德·特朗普总统(左)出席2019年12月4日在伦敦举行的北约峰会。英国希望与美国达成良好的后英国退出欧盟贸易协议

超过一半(53%)的人表示，他们不认为特朗普政府会在贸易谈判中“公平和尊重”地对待英国。超过四分之一(27%)的人认为会。

党派是回复中的一个因素。在上次英国大选中投票给左翼工党的人比投票给右翼保守党的人(39%)更有可能怀疑英国会受到公平对待(69%)。

与美国建立不受欧盟约束的新型贸易关系，是英国退出欧盟竞选活动取得成功的主要原因之一。

特朗普说离开欧盟这意味着英国和美国“现在可以自由达成一项大规模的新贸易协议”，在他看来，“这项协议有可能比与欧盟达成的任何协议都要大得多，也更有利可图。”

但是在雷德菲尔德的民意调查中，几乎两倍的英国人认为英国应该花更多的时间(50%)与欧盟寻求最好的贸易协议，而不是美国(26%)

当被问及他们认为谁是继英国退出欧盟之后英国最大的贸易伙伴时，说欧盟的人(37%)略多于美国(34%)。

此外，40%的人认为欧盟将是一个更有利可图的合作伙伴，相比之下，只有31%的人认为美国

2020年1月30日，在伦敦议会大厦前的议会广场上，一面欧盟国旗旁边。《新闻周刊》的一项调查显示，大多数英国人认为，与美国相比，与布鲁塞尔达成良好贸易协议的可能性更大

无论谁是美国总统，都会影响英国人对体面贸易协议前景的看法。34%的人认为，与可能的民主党候选人乔·拜登在11月的选举中获胜相比，在特朗普的领导下，英国的情况会更糟。

只有18%的人认为英国会比拜登与特朗普达成更好的协议，43%的人认为不管谁在白宫都一样。

超过一半的受访者(54%)表示，期待今年年底达成贸易协议是不现实的，尽管英方希望在2020年底之前达成协议。雷德菲尔德民调的误差幅度为2.53%。

英国正在谈判几项贸易协议。上周，美国商会对未来英国与欧盟贸易关系的不确定性表示担忧。

该商业组织指出，美国公司在英国投资超过7500亿美元，主要目的是进入更大的欧盟单一市场，在英国退出欧盟之后，他们再也不能像以前那样做了。

美国商会在一份声明中表示:“考虑到这一点，英国尽快与欧盟达成有利的贸易协定至关重要。”。

总部位于伦敦的“变化中的欧洲”组织英国部主任阿南德·梅农告诉记者新闻周刊:“与欧盟达成的糟糕协议对英国经济的伤害远远超过与美国达成的体面贸易协议对英国经济的好处。”

2018年3月10日，美国贸易代表罗伯特·莱特希尔在布鲁塞尔的欧盟总部合影。

尚不清楚美国在与英国的协议中寻求什么，冠状病毒至少暂时给任何自由贸易协定带来了相当大的后勤障碍。

梅农说:“在特朗普治下，美国已经是相当的保护主义者，而且由于COVID，听起来更是如此，所以他们是否处于自由贸易的情绪还有待观察。”。

“全球贸易受到巨大冲击，对于与遥远地方的贸易，没有任何客机，我们不知道什么时候会有。无论如何，你在美国取得的成就是有限的，原因很简单，美国离你很远。

“人们对英国退出欧盟进程和COVID流行病还有各种各样的疑虑，这使得寄希望于贸易协定的时机变得非常不确定。”

大多数专家都认为，英国与美国的协议不太可能在今年年底前达成，该协议需要国会批准。但优先考虑与欧盟的交易也有其自身的问题。

伦敦智库经济事务研究所(Institute of Economic Affairs)监管事务负责人维多利亚·休森(Victoria Hewson)表示:“双方都没有把握时机，出于后勤方面的原因，年底前达成协议的可能性似乎微乎其微，这是在我们考虑到经济动荡仍在继续之前。”新闻周刊。

“特朗普是‘美国第一’，这一点没有改变，只是‘美国第一’不一定与对英国有利的事情相抵触。自由贸易不是零和游戏，贸易自由化和我们来自美国的投入实际上对英国消费者有利。

“在某些方面，经济逆风也是努力达成一项协议的一个很好的理由，该协议将推动美国和英国的经济发展

“尽管许多人都在谈论经济增长、紧缩和逆转全球化，但在许多方面，这都是我们试图恢复经济增长时最糟糕的事情。”

这种所谓的“特殊关系”应该为谈判创造一个比美中紧张关系更有利的环境。美中两国在今年1月就艰难达成的“第一阶段”协议达成一致之前，曾进行过一场激烈的贸易战。

周一，特朗普排除了与中国就近期协议进行重新谈判的可能性，并敦促北京方面坚持自己的立场，因为全球最大的两个经济体在冠状病毒大流行问题上出现了新的紧张局势。

有人问总统关于国营媒体的报道中国日报报纸称，北京方面正试图使该协议无效，并就新协议进行谈判。但据路透社报道，特朗普立即对此不予理会，称“我不感兴趣”。

TRUMP PROMISED THE U.K. A LUCRATIVE U.S. TRADE DEAL. BUT BRITONS DON'T BELIEVE HIM AND MANY WANT TO PRIORITIZE THE E.U.

A majority of Britons doubt the Trump administration will treat the U.K. fairly in ongoing trade talks, and more believe the European Union (E.U.) will be a better post-Brexit trading partner than the U.S., according to a poll for Newsweek.

Formal trade talks between U.K. Trade Secretary Liz Truss and the U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer opened via video call last week.

President Donald Trump has promised the U.K. a "far bigger and more lucrative" trade deal than any the E.U. has to offer its former member state. Now, as the coronavirus pandemic sinks the economy, the stakes are higher for the U.K. to secure a deal.

Truss argued both countries had a vested interest in a good deal because of the importance of transatlantic trade helping both economies bounce back from the challenges of coronavirus.

However, an online poll of 1,500 adults aged over 18 who live across the U.K. conducted by Redfield & Wilton Strategies for Newsweek shows that the majority Britons have doubts about U.S. intentions in the talks.

Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson (R) welcomes President Donald Trump (L) to the NATO summit anortheast of London on December 4, 2019. Britain is hoping for a good post-Brexit trade deal with the U.S.

More than half (53 percent) said they did not think the Trump administration would treat the U.K. "fairly and respectfully" in trade negotiations. Just over a quarter (27 percent) believed it would.

Party affiliation was a factor in replies. Those who voted for left-wing Labour in the last U.K. general election were far more likely to doubt that the U.K would be treated fairly (69 percent) than those who voted for the right-wing Conservatives (39 percent).

A new trading relationship with the U.S. unfettered by Brussels was one of the rallying calls of the successful Brexit campaign.

Trump said leaving the E.U. meant that the U.K and the U.S. "will now be free to strike a massive new trade deal," which in his view "has the potential to be far bigger and more lucrative than any deal that could be made with the E.U."

But in the Redfield poll, almost twice as many Britons said the U.K. should devote more time seeking the best trade deal with the E.U. (50 percent) than the U.S. (26 percent)

When asked who they thought would be the U.K's biggest trading partner post-Brexit, slightly more people said the E.U. (37 percent) than the U.S. (34 percent).

Moreover, 40 percent thought the E.U. would be a more profitable partner compared with only 31 percent who said the U.S.

An EU Flag fis pictured next to a Union Flag in Parliament Squaren front of the Houses of Parliament in London on January 30, 2020. A survey for Newsweek suggests most Britons see a good trade deal with Brussels as more likely than one with the U.S.

Whoever is U.S. president also impacts Britons' thoughts about the prospect of a decent trade deal. Thirty-four percent thought the U.K. would get a worse deal under Trump than if the likely Democratic nominee Joe Biden won the election in November.

Just 18 percent thought Britain would get a better deal with Trump than Biden and 43 percent thought it would be the same regardless of who is in the White House.

More than half of respondents—54 percent—said it would be unrealistic to expect a trade deal by the end of the year, despite hopes on the British side that an agreement will come before the end of 2020. The Redfield poll has a 2.53 percent margin of error.

The U.K. is negotiating several trade deals. Last week, the United States Chamber of Commerce raised concerns about the uncertainty around the future U.K.-E.U. trading relationship.

The business group noted that American firms have invested more than $750 billion in the U.K. with the principal aim of accessing the larger E.U. single market, which, post-Brexit, they can no longer do as before.

"With that in mind, it is vital that the U.K. secure a favorable trade agreement with the E.U. as quickly as possible," the U.S. Chamber of Commerce said in a statement.

Anand Menon, director of the London-based group UK in a Changing Europe, told Newsweek: "A bad deal with the E.U. will harm the U.K. economy far more than a decent trade deal with the U.S. will benefit it."

US trade representative Robert Lighthizer is pictured on March 10, 2018 at the European Commission headquarters in Brussels.

It is not clear what the U.S. is looking for in a deal with the U.K. and the coronavirus has, temporarily at least, introduced considerable logistical barriers to any free trade agreement.

"The U.S. is already quite protectionist under Trump and sounds more so because of COVID, so whether they are in a free trading sort of mood remains to be seen," Menon said.

"Global trade has taken a massive hit and for trade with places far away, there aren't any passenger planes and we don't know when there will be. There are limits to what you can achieve with the U.S. anyway, for the simple reason that the U.S. is quite far away.

"There are all sorts of other doubts related to the Brexit process and the COVID pandemic that makes it a very uncertain time to be pinning hopes on trade deals."

Most experts agree that a U.K. deal with the U.S., which would require congressional approval, is unlikely before the end of the year. But prioritizing a deal with the E.U. poses its own problems.

"Timing is not on either side, the chances of getting a deal before the end of the year seem remote for logistical reasons on both sides, and that is before we have considered the economic upheaval going on," Victoria Hewson, head of regulatory affairs at the London-based think tank the Institute of Economic Affairs, told Newsweek.

"Trump is 'America First', that hasn't changed, it is just that 'America First' is not necessarily at odds with things that are beneficial to Britain as well. Free trade is not a zero-sum game, liberalizing trade and our inputs from America is actually good for British consumers.

"In some ways, the economic headwinds are also a good reason to push hard to get a deal that will give an economic boost both to the U.S. and the U.K.

"Although a lot of people are talking about onshoring and retrenching and reverse globalization, that would be in many ways the worst thing to happen as we try to return to economic growth."

The so-called "special relationship" should create a more conducive environment for talks than the tensions between the U.S. and China as they engaged in a bitter trade war before agreeing the hard-fought "Phase One" deal in January.

On Monday, Trump ruled out renegotiating the recent deal with China and urged Beijing to uphold its side of the bargain as fresh tensions arise between the world's two largest economies over the coronavirus pandemic.

The president was asked about reports in the state-run China Daily newspaper that Beijing was looking to invalidate the agreement and negotiate a new one. But Trump dismissed it instantly, saying "I'm not interested," according to Reuters.