Theme sheet Published: 2007-09-05
Free trade for growth and prosperity
Free trade is necessary for a well-functioning market economy with healthy
competition.
– How can we create advantages for Sweden through
international trade?
What does Confederation of Swedish Enterprise want?
The Confederation of Swedish Enterprise consistently supports free trade. Free trade is a prerequisite for a well-functioning market economy with healthy competition. Protective tariffs in other countries harm market access and exports of Swedish companies. Protective tariffs on imports into Sweden and other EU countries make components and services more expensive, and our companies less competitive. Therefore we want to eliminate all tariffs and other barriers to international trade. Zero duties on all industrial goods in all countries should be an important long-term objective for the WTO.
What is the situation today?
The common external trade policy of the European Union is jointly decided by all 27 member states an EU level. Trade negotiations and the implementation of the common EU external trade policy is handled by the European Commission within the framework of the Treaty and the mandates given by the Council of Ministers in the so called 133 Committee.
In the Doha Round of WTO negotiations we pursue better market access for industrial goods, services and, agricultural products. We also want stricter WTO rules on trade facilitation and on anti-dumping. We pursue these objectives through contacts with the European Commission, the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the European Parliament, with business organisations such as Businesseurope, ESF, ICC and BIAC, and with representatives of business and government in other countries.
What is required?
- Tariffs should be reduced for all industrial goods to a maximum of 10 percent on average. Zero duty agreements for several additional sectors should be negotiated. Low tariffs below 3 percent ("nuisance tariffs") should be removed entirely, and peak tariffs should be capped at a maximum of 15 percent.
- Free trade in services should be improved through harmonisation and mutual recognition of national regulatory frameworks within all service sectors.
- Free trade in agricultural goods and food products should be improved by eliminating all forms of export subsidies, and by sharply reducing internal support and external border protection. The trade-distorting agricultural policies of the EU and other industrial countries should be fundamentally reformed.
- Simplified and harmonised customs and trade procedures should be agreed upon to lower expenditures of time and money for exporters as well as importers, especially small and medium-sized companies.
- We also pursue our objective of better market access for industrial goods, services, agricultural products and trade facilitation in the bilateral and regional trade agreements of the European Union.
- We work to improve the EU trade policies concerning customs clearance, GSP (preferential tariffs for imports from developing countries) and EU anti-dumping procedures.
