Switzerland was one of the founding members, more than sixty years ago, of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA). Since then, it has always focused on the development of its international trade, weaving throughout the world, alone or within the framework of EFTA (of which Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein are also part), a network of more than thirty free trade agreements which contribute both to its notoriety and its prosperity.
The news in this area is bittersweet. The positive is that this network is expanding and strengthening. A new agreement with India was signed this spring. The deal with China, concluded in spectacular fashion a decade ago, is being expanded. The one with Chile has been modernized and negotiations are underway with the Mercosur countries (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay). The agreement with Indonesia was finally able to enter into force after the popular vote three years ago.
Free trade agreements were once unanimously perceived as essential assets of a Swiss economy largely deprived of natural resources
Pierre Gabriel Bieri
The negative is that these agreements, which were once unanimously perceived as essential assets of a Swiss economy largely deprived of natural resources and therefore dependent on foreigners, but capable of exporting products with high added value, are today come up against the hostility of a part of the Swiss population. Under the influence of certain political currents, free trade is accused of all evils: weakening of local trade, explosion of international transport, destruction of the environment and natural resources, exploitation of local populations. NGOs demand that each agreement be accompanied by guarantees regarding Western ecological or social standards, intended to “advance” the countries with which we want to trade.
Faced with this ideological challenge, Federal Councilor Guy Parmelin is right to persistently defend the path to free trade. He argues in particular that Swiss exports to China have experienced remarkable growth in around ten years, or that, on the contrary, the much feared imports of Indonesian palm oil are not increasing and are limited to the volume of a large truck every year. He also underlines that the Swiss economy, to exist on the international level, is dependent on commercial relations respecting a uniform framework and rules, which is the aim of free trade agreements.
Above all, we must place this theme in the current context of a divided and conflicting world, where the diversification of our commercial relations is essential to maintain both economic outlets for our products and the sources of supply that our population needs. . We can also add that trade, even if it sometimes triggers tensions or even wars, also often represents a factor in calming international relations. In this sense, Switzerland today has every interest in banking on the universalism of its commercial network, which is much more profitable for itself and the world than being locked into a decreasing ideology or a military-political bloc.
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