Asdis Olafsdottir
Head of Information and Communication
EFTA and US resume Trade Policy Dialogue
A delegation from the EFTA States headed by Swiss State Secretary Marie-Gabrielle Ineichen-Fleisch met with representatives of the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) in Washington DC on 17 November 2021. It was the 7th meeting of the EFTA–US Trade Policy Dialogue, resuming the annual discussion after the one-year hiatus caused by the pandemic.
The USTR presented the trade policy priorities of the US under the Biden administration, with an emphasis on a worker-centred trade policy, partnering with like-minded countries to address non-market practices. The EFTA States in return presented a broad overview of the EFTA countries’ trade policy agenda and ongoing negotiations.
Among the topics of discussion were relations with the European Union, the United Kingdom, China as well as Asia more broadly, in addition to ongoing reform efforts at the WTO and the upcoming Ministerial conference. In addition, the three EEA EFTA States reiterated a long-standing request for a Mutual Recognition Agreement (MRA) for good manufacturing practices for medicines as an extension to the EU–US MRA.
The EFTA–US Trade Policy Dialogue has been held on a regular basis since 2013 and serves as a forum for exchanging views and experiences, as well as raising bilateral trade issues.
The United States is the second largest merchandise export destination for the EFTA countries with total exports worth EUR 40 billion in 2020, of which more than half were pharmaceutical products. It is also the third largest country of origin for imports, with EFTA imports of goods from the US approaching EUR 16 billion last year.
Read more about merchandise trade between EFTA and the US here.
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