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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 relations with Switzerland than almost any other predecessor in office. Never before have there been so many high-level meetings in such a short time.
Less direct contacts
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 such a close relationship as with the Trump administration under Biden, said Martin Naville, director of the Swiss-American Chamber of Commerce, recently “Tages-Anzeiger.”
Switzerland plays an important mediating role in the conflict between Iran and the United States. Biden is fighting for a turnaround in Iran policy and will sooner or later 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
After Germany, the United States is 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.”
Democratic Congressman Don Beyer, the US ambassador to Bern under Barack Obama, assumes that Biden will continue to campaign for a free trade agreement because there are many economic and political reasons for doing so. But he recently admitted in an interview with the “Handelszeitung” that concluding an agreement with Switzerland would 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 industry for doing 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 wanted to crack down on high drug prices in the United States.
“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.
