Free Trade Agreements Of Switzerland

The EU is now China`s largest trading partner and would certainly be more ambitious than Switzerland in its relations with China. However, one of the key lessons of the U.S.-China trade war and the ceasefire agreed in the recent Phase 1 agreement is that China has sufficient capacity to withstand external pressure if the other side`s demands do not match the measures it wants to take in both directions. The agreement between China and Switzerland is much broader than the Phase 1 agreement, and it is reciprocal, but it confirms this pattern. Nevertheless, in all negotiations with China, from agriculture to steel and many types of labour-intensive products (such as clothing), the EU will naturally have its own defensive concerns and red lines. On the basis of this CSFTA review, we conclude that negotiations for a free trade agreement between China and the EU would be laborious to say the least. Although the potential welfare benefits of developing trade relations between these two gigantic economies are far greater than those of an existing EU trade agreement, much will need to change before the terms of a China-EU agreement become truly favourable. The ongoing implementation of these agreements obliges Switzerland to adopt relevant EU legislation in the covered sectors. Switzerland`s economic and trade relations with the EU are mainly governed by a series of bilateral agreements in which Switzerland has agreed to adopt certain aspects of EU legislation in exchange for access to part of the EU internal market. These bilateral agreements between the EU and Switzerland are currently managed by some 20 joint committees. A report commissioned by the Swiss Economic Secretariat (SECO) showed that Swiss companies had made good use of free trade agreements. In addition to the EFTA agreement and the free trade agreement with the European Union, Switzerland currently has a network of 30 free trade agreements with 40 partners outside the EU and new agreements are being negotiated. Most (but not all) Swiss free trade agreements contain such a rule. This means that the determination of the country of origin of primary materials from a third country is not taken into account, provided that their value does not exceed 10% of the factory starting price.