BEACON » Swaziland News http://www.cosmizen.com Business Economy And Commerce Online News Fri, 11 Apr 2014 08:36:40 +0000 en-US hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.8.2 Switzerland Prepares for a Historic FTA with China http://www.cosmizen.com/2010/08/switzerland-prepares-for-a-historic-fta-with-china/ http://www.cosmizen.com/2010/08/switzerland-prepares-for-a-historic-fta-with-china/#comments Tue, 17 Aug 2010 19:28:19 +0000 http://www.cosmizen.com/?p=986 Continue reading]]> The Swiss President Doris Leuthard’s week-long visit to China is likely to make Switzerland once again a first mover from Europe to sign an FTA with China as it had established diplomatic ties 60 years ago. The Swiss Embassy to China apprised Global Times that the FTA talks were officially launched.

Leuthard, who ended a six-day working visit to China on Sunday, had said that the feasibility study which began in 2009 had covered all potential areas of trade. Sun Xiaolan, assistant to the Commerce Department of the Swiss Embassy to China said on Monday the FTA talks had officially kicked off.

Although Sun did not disclose the detail of the initial talks but confirmed that Switzerland would soon be the first European country to conclude an FTA with China, as it was with Japan in 2009. Switzerland has the distinction of becoming one of the first Western countries to establish diplomatic relations with China, today to transform itself into a major trading partner from the region.

The top Chinese legislator Wu Bangguo, while he met Leuthard had said the two nations could explore new ways to better combine Swiss technology with the Chinese market. Similarly, the Chinese Commerce Minister Chen Deming said the country had ‘enormous demand’ for Swiss products relating to environmental protection, energy conservation and emissions reduction.

Switzerland is China’s ninth largest European trade partner, while China is Switzerland’s fourth largest global trade partner. In the first half of this year, bilateral trade jumped 127 percent, and China’s imports from Switzerland increased 180 percent compared to the same time last year.

According to the Ministry of Commerce, bilateral trade between China and Switzerland topped $11.3bn in 2008, and slightly dropped to $10.18bn in 2009, with $5.28bn of Swiss exports and $4.9bn imports from China.

Toboc Trade News

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The US-SACU Trade Deal Hits Roadblock http://www.cosmizen.com/2009/05/the-us-sacu-trade-deal-hits-roadblock/ http://www.cosmizen.com/2009/05/the-us-sacu-trade-deal-hits-roadblock/#comments Wed, 13 May 2009 06:56:57 +0000 http://tradetimes.wordpress.com/?p=431 Continue reading]]> The Obama administration has categorically stated that they had no interest to move forward with the free trade negotiations with the five-member Southern African Custom Union (SACU) due to the failure of several rounds of talks. The SACU comprises of South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia and Swaziland, and the negotiations with the US began in 2003. In 2006, the talks were suspended allegedly due to the US’ unrealistic demands that could not be implemented in the SACU states.

The US Trade Representative Ron Kirk revealed about the stalemate on the FTA at the sidelines of the inauguration ceremony of the Jacob Zuma presidency. However, he claimed there was still room for growth as South Africa was by far the largest beneficiary of trade under Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA). He later added that it was possible to think of a new start with the new government at the helm since the US had very good foundation in South Africa with over 600 US business investments in various sectors.

Even though the central reason for the disinterest is not spelled out by the US authorities, the possibilities to this action seemed to be the same old ones. The old demand of the US particularly the intellectual property rights, and protectionist strategy could have checkmated the deal as of now.

South Africa is one of the SACU members that has largely benefitted by the Generalised System of Preferences that allows certain products to enter the US duty-free. South African clothing and selected textile products have duty-free access to the US market through the AGOA, an initiative of the Clinton administration.

According to the Department of Trade and Industry of South Africa, the US is the largest market for its merchandise. On the other hand, South Africa’s third largest imports are from the US.

South Africa’s trade analyst Peter Draper admitted that the US government’s move did not come as a surprise “for a number of reasons”. In his opinion, the failure to clinch FTA with the US is a huge blow to SACU.

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