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China and Switzerland seal revised trade pact, clearing duties on Swiss watches
China will grant duty-free access to 99.8% of Swiss exports over the next decade, up from roughly half, under a revised trade agreement signed in Beijing. The deal ends customs duties on all Swiss watches, which previously entered China almost entirely tariffed.
The revision was marked at a signing ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, where President Xi Jinping and his Swiss counterpart Guy Parmelin endorsed the updated accord. The share of Swiss goods entering China free of customs duties will rise to 99.8% within ten years, compared with about half at present.
Watches are the most conspicuous beneficiary. Duties will be scrapped on all Swiss timepieces, whereas only 1% of them had previously entered China tariff-free. Manufacturers will still be liable for China's consumption tax on luxury goods, so the change does not eliminate the tax burden on high-end pieces.
Other food categories gain as well. Swiss cheeses and coffee will be freed from customs duties, joining chocolate and wine, which were already exempt.
In return, Switzerland will remove duties on 97.3% of Chinese agricultural exports, up from 80.1%. The arrangement follows a period in which Beijing has raised trade barriers against numerous European countries and the United States, making the Swiss deal a closely watched reference point for other economies.
"Together, we can instil valuable confidence and greater certainty in economic and trade cooperation between China and Europe," Xi said to Parmelin in remarks reported by journalists at the ceremony.