Sino-Swiss Free Trade Agreement – 2018 Academic Evaluation Report

The “Sino-Swiss Free Trade Agreement – 2018 Academic Evaluation Report” is an exploratory policy report that aims to set a standard to analyze comprehensively and cross-disciplinary an FTA. The report was produced by research teams from both countries.
The first and immediate benefit of the Sino-Siwss-FTA (SSFTA) are the practical opportunities resulting from exporters saving customs duties because of the substantial reductions in tariffs. Thus this report analyzes utilization rates (AUR). The next important question is why firms do or do not make eff ective use of the FTAs. This is accomplished with a firm survey of potential FTA users. This brings us to the ultimate question of whether the FTA effectively increased bilateral trade. This is discerned via a sophisticated counterfactual method.
Other chapters in this book analyze the different motivations of states (in this case China and Switzerland) for signing and implementing an FTA. There is also one contribution that looks at how far and deep China is willing to go with its bilateral FTAs.
In summary, this policy report, by examining the SSFTA, is also a call for FTA education and for upgrading the functionality of FTAs.