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Swiss Foreign Policy, 1945–2002 pp 186–209Cite as

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Swiss Foreign Trade Policy

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Abstract

A nation’s foreign trade policy is the expression of the government’s activity or inactivity. It consists of taking or avoiding certain measures. It is also a function of the political and economic circumstances prevailing both at home and abroad, and it is influenced by the constitution and a specific set of goals. In a market-oriented economy, the state intervenes only where actors encounter difficulties that they cannot handle alone. Among other things, the state may enter into international agreements to remove tariff and non-tariff trade barriers thereby supporting the private sector in a complementary way.1

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Notes

  1. Hans Christoph Binswanger and Reinhardt Büchi, ‘Aussenpolitik und Aussenwirtschaftspolitik’, in Alois Riklin, Hans Haug and Hans Christoph Binswanger (eds), Handbuch der schweizerischen Aussenpolitik ( Bern/Stuttgart: Paul Haupt, 1975 ), p. 696.

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  2. Compare works on political economy, such as Robert E. Baldwin, Trade Policy in a Changing World Economy ( Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1988 ).

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  3. For the statistical sources, see Bundesamt für Statistik, Statistisches Jahrbuch der Schweiz (Basel/Zürich: Verlag Neue Zürcher Zeitung, annual)

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  4. GATT, International Trade (Geneva: annual 1952–94)

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  5. Schweizerische Bankgesellschaft, Die Schweizerische Wirtschaft 1946 bis 1986 (Zürich: 1986)

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  6. Seco, Die Volkswirtschaft, Aktuelle Wirtschaftsdaten (Bern: monthly); WTO, Annual Report ( Geneva: WTO publications services, annual since 1994 ).

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  7. For a summary of the critcism raised, see Emil Küng, Das Allgemeine Abkommen über Zölle und Handel (Zürich: Polygraphischer Verlag, 1952), p. 83, 88ff.

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  8. GATT, ‘Ministerial Declaration on the Uruguay Round of 20 September 1986’, in GATT, Basic Instruments and Selected Documents (BISD), 33rd Supplement (Geneva: 1987), p. 19ff.

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  9. For an account of the origins and contents of the agricultural agreements, see Richard Senti, WTO, System und Funktionsweise der Welthandelsordnung (Zürich: Schulthess, 2000), paragraphs 200, 216ff und 1001ff.

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  10. Exemption from the Reduction Commitments, Annex 2 of the Agreement on Agriculture, in WTO, The Results of the Uruguay Round of Multilateral Trade Negotiations, The Legal Texts ( Geneva: WTO Secretariat, 1995 ), p. 56.

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  11. Eidgenössisches Volkswirtschaftsdepartement, Die Uruguay-Runde des GATT, Vernehmlassungsunterlagen vom 25. Mai 1994, Bern, p. 56.

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  12. For a history on the Swiss tariff, see Alfred Bosshardt, ‘Zollpolitik’, in Schweizerische Gesellschaft für Statistik und Volkswirtschaft (ed.), Handbuch der schweizerischen Volkswirtschaft, Bd. II (Bern: Benteli, 1955 ), pp. 671–8

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  14. For a history of ERG, see Silvio Arioli, ‘50 Jahre Risikogarantie (ERG)’, Die Volkswirtschaft (Oktober 1984), pp. 727–31

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  15. ERG, Die ERG im Überblick ( Zürich: April 1989 )

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  17. Richard Senti, Analyse des schweizerischen Nahrungsmittelexportes (Grüsch: Rüegger, 1985), pp. 57ff and 75.

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  18. GATS Art. 1 Abs. 2. For a useful discussion of the services terminology, see Matthias Koehler, Das Allgemeine Übereinkommen über den Handel mit Dienstleistungen (GATS) (Berlin: Duncker & Humblot, 1999), p. 27ff.

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  19. For a survey of the various agreements and decisions, see Kurt Schiltknecht, Beurteilung der Gentlemen’s Agreements und Konjunkturbeschlüsse der Jahre 1954–1966 ( Zürich: Dissertation, 1969 ).

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  20. EG-Kommission, Die Vollendung des Binnenmarkts (Luxemburg: Amt für Amtliche Veröffentlichungen der Europäischen Gemeinschaften: 1986), paragraphs 95–132.

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  21. GATT, Basic Instruments and Selected Documents (BISD), 33rd Supplement (Geneva: 1987), p. 28.

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Authors
  1. Richard Senti
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© 2003 Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited

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Senti, R. (2003). Swiss Foreign Trade Policy. In: Swiss Foreign Policy, 1945–2002. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230500242_8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230500242_8

  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-349-51136-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-0-230-50024-2

  • eBook Packages: Palgrave History CollectionHistory (R0)

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