Switzerland Signs Free Trade Agreement With Mercosur States

(MENAFN- Swissinfo) Swiss Economics Minister Guy Parmelin and representatives of the other European Free Trade Association states (EFTA) signed the free trade agreement with the Mercosur states in Rio de Janeiro on Tuesday. It enables“significant customs savings” for Swiss companies. This content was published on September 17, 2025 - 09:09 3 minutes Keystone-SDA

• Deutsch de Parmelin unterzeichnet Freihandelsabkommen mit Mercosur-Staaten Original Read more: Parmelin unterzeichnet Freihandelsabkommen mit Mercosur-Staate

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The signing of the free trade agreement between the four EFTA states Switzerland, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Mercosur (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay) is a significant milestone in Swiss trade policy, announced the Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research (EAER) on Tuesday evening.

After 14 rounds of negotiations, an agreement has been reached. With 270 million consumers, Mercosur is already an attractive target market with considerable growth potential for the Swiss export industry. According to the EAER, Switzerland exported goods worth more than CHF4 billion ($5.08 billion) to the four Mercosur states in 2024, an increase of over a third compared to 2014.

The agreement corresponds to the EFTA free trade agreement recently concluded with third countries and has a comprehensive sectoral scope. Once the transitional periods have expired, around 96% of Swiss exports to the Mercosur states will be fully exempt from customs duties under the agreement.

In view of the high tariffs in the Mercosur states, the free trade agreement will therefore enable“significant tariff savings for Swiss companies of over CHF155 million per year”. This means that, alongside the agreements with the EU and China, it offers the greatest potential for tariff savings of all Swiss free trade agreements and is in a similar range to the agreement with India.

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This content was published on Jul 18, 2025 After eight years, EFTA and Mercosur have a deal. But with such agreements facing public scrutiny, negotiators were keen to include protections – including environmental ones.

Read more: Beyond tariffs: how Switzerland turned trade talks into climate action with Mercosur

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