Europe, not Britain, is seen as having the most leverage going into the talks. "The party with the most to lose has the weakest position," says Dennis Novy, a University of Warwick economist, "and that's the U.K." The EU is Britain's closest and largest trading partner. Forty-four percent of U.K. exports go to the EU, while only 8 to 17 percent of EU exports go to Britain. Novy says failing to reach a trade deal wouldn't completely quash U.K. markets for European goods and services anyway, just shrink them as rising prices dilute demand.

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