# 13 / 2016
25.11.2016

Free Trade Agreement with China – A Milestone for Swiss Business

Free Trade Agreements: Switzerland in global competition

Switzerland has 30 free trade agreements in place. Free trade agreements are a key instrument for Switzerland as a small, export-oriented country. Their provisions go beyond the scope of existing WTO law, which helps Switzerland improve market access. This is important because the current Doha Round at the WTO has been blocked for years, and extensive further liberalisation on a multilateral level is not to be expected in the near future.

Switzerland is in global competition for trade facilitation for example, since 17 June 2013 the US and EU have been negotiating a comprehensive deal called the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). And the twelve Pacific Rim countries (the US, Japan, Canada, Australia, Brunei, Chile, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam) have agreed on a comprehensive free trade agreement known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).