According to the US Ambassador to Switzerland, the Biden administration aims to sign a limited sectoral trade deal with the Swiss pharmaceutical sector.
According to Scott Miller in an interview with the newspaper that was published on Sunday, the intention of the proposed agreement is to make it simpler for the US Food and Drug Administration to approve Swiss drugs.
The International Trade Center in Geneva estimates that the US purchased pharmaceutical products from Switzerland worth $21 billion last year.
The announcement comes amid ongoing disagreements about market access for US agricultural exports into the alpine nation, which has halted trade negotiations between the US and Switzerland.
Switzerland has decided that they cannot give us access to the agriculture market, Miller said. Until we get any further there we will talk about specific sectoral agreements.
According to the US Trade Representative, the US exported $393 million worth of agricultural goods to Switzerland in 2019.
Switzerland is the 16th-largest trading partner for American goods. According to the USTR, two-way commerce in products and services between the US and Switzerland reached $134 billion in 2019.
