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Joe Biden becomes the 46th President of the United States. Image: keystone
What Biden’s victory means for Switzerland: by 3 points
Switzerland will have more in common with the US government under Joe Biden on many global issues than with that of Donald Trump. But with Biden at the top, many things will change.
This is of interest to Switzerland, which has a center for international diplomacy in Geneva. As an export-oriented economy with a small domestic market, Switzerland should benefit from a stabilization of the international trading system. The World Trade Organization WTO would also be strengthened again under Biden, also in favor of Switzerland.
In his first term, Donald Trump cultivated closer ties with Switzerland than almost any of his predecessors. Never before have there been so many high-level meetings in such a short time.
Less visits
Joe Biden visited the WEF in 2016 as Vice President and was received by then Federal President Johann Schneider-Ammann. But there will hardly be a relationship as close as with the Trump administration under Biden.said Martin Naville, director of the Swiss-American Chamber of Commerce, recently the “Tages-Anzeiger.”
Donald Trump at the World Economic Forum in Davos 2020. Photo: trapezoidal
Switzerland plays an important mediating role in the conflict between Iran and the United States. Biden seeks a turnaround in Iran policy and sooner or later he will seek talks with the Iranian regime. The Democrat could also try to reactivate the nuclear deal with Iran, which Switzerland would also welcome, as Martin Dahinden, the former Swiss ambassador to the United States, recently told the Tages-Anzeiger.
Free trade is not a priority
the United States are after Germany the Switzerland’s most important trading partner. An important trade policy issue is a free trade agreement between Switzerland and the United States. Edward T. McMullen, Trump’s ambassador in Bern, has promised Switzerland such a thing for years. But the negotiations have stalled. In Switzerland, it’s mostly agriculture that gets in the way of a degree. Naville believes that under Biden, however, a deal will be “very, very unlikely.”
After Germany, the United States is Switzerland’s most important trading partner. PHOTO: EPA / KEYSTONE
Democratic Congressman Don Beyer, the US ambassador to Bern under Barack Obama, assumes that Biden will continue to work for a free trade agreementbecause there are many economic and political reasons to do so. But he recently admitted in an interview with the “Handelszeitung” that the The conclusion of an agreement with Switzerland will not be a priority for the new government.
The dispute over bank secrecy, which escalated under Barack Obama, is largely over today. “I don’t suppose it will be reactivated,” said former Ambassador Dahinden the “Tages-Anzeiger.”
Aimed at the pharmaceutical industry
the Pharmaceutical industry is by far the most important export branch in business with the United States. It was the Trump administration’s target because of Switzerland’s large trade surplus. Both Trump and Biden had announced that they would they want to crack down on high drug prices in the United States.
Biden and Trump have announced that they want to crack down on high drug prices. Image: sda
“What will become of her is questionable,” commented the “NZZ”. Corresponding announcements have been made over and over again. “The corona pandemic will also keep America busy for a while. In this situation, it is unlikely that it is opportune to attack the pharmaceutical industry, which has to finance its valuable research, ”the newspaper wrote. (ohe / sda)
