Deal reached to abolish nearly all tariffs on Swiss exports to China

Almost all tariffs on Swiss exports to China will be abolished Keystone-SDA

China and Switzerland have concluded negotiations on further development of their free trade agreement. In future, there will be virtually no customs duties on Swiss exports to China.

Federal President and Minister for Economic Affairs Guy Parmelin and Chinese Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao concluded negotiations on optimising the existing free trade agreement on Thursday in Bern. This was announced by the Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research (EAER).

Switzerland has achieved its objectives, the EAER stated: under the existing free trade agreement, only just over half of Swiss exports are duty-free. In future – following phase-out periods – 99.8% of current exports will enter the Chinese market duty-free. Chinese imports into Switzerland, on the other hand, are already almost entirely duty-free.

Furthermore, the improved free trade agreement secures access to the Chinese market for Swiss investors. And the provisions on environmental issues and labour rights will be strengthened, the EAER states.

The optimisation of the free trade agreement also covers rules of origin and trade facilitation, trade in services, digital trade, competition, and economic and technical cooperation between the two sides. The agreement is due to be signed before the end of this year.

Switzerland and China have had a free trade agreement in place since 2014. Negotiations on its further development began in 2024 and were concluded after five rounds. China is Switzerland’s third most important trading partner, after the EU and the US.

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Translated from German, reviewed by an English Department journalist.