On 13/07/2026, DBT announced that the UK has agreed an FTA with Switzerland. The Deal has been hailed by DBT as the most extensive trade deal in services yet signed by the UK. DBT estimates the Deal will, in the long run, lead to an increase of £5.2 billion a year in UK services exports to Switzerland.
You can find the full DBT Press Release on the gov.uk website. Where you can also find a full factsheet outlining the agreement.
Below, we outline what was in the Deal for the tech sector and analyse what it means for the future of trade with Switzerland.
Analysis
The UK-Switzerland FTA is being hailed as ‘the UK’s most significant trade deal for services ever’ by DBT. As a standalone agreement, there is certainly a great deal of depth for services, and reflects that the fact that most UK exports are in services and are digitally-delivered through provisions on encouraging both digital trade and the digitalisation of trade.
A great amount of the deal seems to focus on facilitating market access without demanding market presence, with extensive measures to ensure that British and Swiss firms can trade with one another without requiring a physical presence in the country. This will help UK tech companies, especially SMEs, who will also gain additional protections for their IP and data transfers in and out of Switzerland.
The measures on procurement are also welcome, allowing UK firms to bid more easily for contracts from Swiss government. The several layers of government in Switzerland, including the Federal nature of government and the importance of the Swiss cantons and municipalities, may be hard for UK firms to navigate initially and so the additional pledges to make procurement easier for UK firms to access are welcome. UK firms now have a wider pool of potential export destinations to choose from, with supplying a Swiss Canton or Municipality a potentially fruitful way for an SME especially to begin exporting.
The support for financial services firms to more easily trade with Switzerland is also welcome, especially if fintech firms benefit from the provisions of the deal and the protections offered for data transfers by FS firms.
Overall though, this looks like a good deal for the UK tech sector, we look forward to seeing the full text and to seeing whether the UK will replicate similar beneficial commitments in FTAs and DTAs with other countries and jurisdictions.
The main question now is what the actual text of the FTA is. So far, DBT has published factsheets but not the FTA itself. These factsheets have kept certain pledges vague. For example: ‘The deal also provides greater certainty for investors by preventing a range of future restrictions on how UK businesses can operate, grow and manage investments in Switzerland’. We look forward to having greater clarity on this when the text of the Deal is published, as the UK Government has committed to doing.
While the Deal’s provisions and commitments have been agreed, this is not the end of the process. After the lawyers comb through the text for legal scrubbing purposes, the Deal will still need to be signed and ratified by the two countries, with ratification likely to take a long time on the Swiss side. techUK will be looking through the exact text of the deal once published and looks forward to working with the UK Government to ensure companies use the Deal and its full potential is realised.
You can find techUK’s quote on the Deal, which was quoted in the Government press release, below:
techUK International Policy and Strategy Lead Sabina Ciofu said:
“This agreement is great news for UK technology companies trading with Switzerland. It provides greater certainty for businesses, makes it easier to operate across both markets and reflects the needs of an increasingly digital economy. We welcome the conclusion of negotiations and look forward to working with the UK Government to help businesses make the most of the opportunities the agreement creates.”
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