A survey conducted immediately before and after the 2016 US presidential election reveals that the election of Donald Trump had a negative effect on Europeans’ image of the United States, but it did not seem to affect the willingness of Europeans to sign a trade and investment agreement with the country.
The authors of the analysis, which is published in Economic Inquiry, noted that the election mainly caused undecided people to adjust their image of the United States in a negative way, rather than cause people with a positive image to take on a negative one.
“We found that the election outcome led to an immediate and sizable negative effect on Europeans’ image of the United States,” said Tom Coupe, Ph.D., of the University of Canterbury, New Zealand. “But because people with a positive image are most likely to support a trade agreement, little changed overall,” added Oleksandr Shepotylo, Ph.D., of Aston University, in the UK.
Reference: “POPULAR SUPPORT FOR TRADE AGREEMENTS AND PARTNER COUNTRY CHARACTERISTICS: EVIDENCE FROM AN UNEXPECTED ELECTION OUTCOME” by Tom Coupé and Oleksandr Shepotylo, 4 August 2020, Economic Inquiry.
DOI: 10.1111/ecin.12927
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