The UK Launches Trade Negotiations with Switzerland

On Monday 15 May, the UK launched negotiations on an enhanced UK-Switzerland Free Trade Agreement following an eight-week consultation which took place last year (see CTPA news item).  The first round of talks is scheduled for week commencing 22 May 2023.

According to the Department for Business and Trade (DBT), Switzerland is already one of the UK’s most important trading partners, and a key market for UK businesses of all sizes, being the UK’s 10^th largest trading partner worldwide and 2^nd largest non-EU trading partner in services.  An enhanced UK-Switzerland Free Trade Agreement (FTA) will include provisions around services, intellectual property rights, investment flows and digital trade, all of which are not included in the current agreement signed in February 2019.  The new deal could also lower tariffs on UK exports to Switzerland, and benefit UK businesses which already export goods to Switzerland, including small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), by creating simpler trade rules for products of origin, customs procedures and digitisation.

The UK’s negotiating objectives and response to the consultation can be found on the UK Government website.