Swiss Raw Materials Industry and Seco Speak with US Representatives
Published: Monday, Jul 24th 2023, 17:40
Updated At: Friday, Oct 13th 2023, 14:12
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In Geneva, a meeting took place on Monday between the Swiss commodity trading industry, the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) and representatives of the US Department of the Treasury. The SECO described the meeting as "beneficial for all parties". The US had previously expressed criticism in relation to sanctions against Russia. The meeting focused on commodity trading and energy supply in Europe over the next 18 months, and was attended by the US Embassy in Bern. It was one of several technical conversations the US Treasury is having with partners in several European countries to assess the impact of the situation on commodity markets on European energy supply and global security. The importance of sanctions in the commodity trading sector was also briefly discussed. The Swiss commodity trading industry was represented by the organisation Suissenégoce, a non-profit and non-political Swiss association representing the interests of the Swiss commodity trading industry, including companies in trading and shipping, banks involved in commodity financing, insurance companies, law firms and specialist service providers. The commodity trading sector contributes 4% to the national gross domestic product and employs 35,000 people. Switzerland is a hub for physical trading of commodities worldwide. The meeting comes in the wake of criticism that Switzerland is not enforcing sanctions against Russia effectively enough. The US Helsinki Commission, a government and congressional body, held a hearing on the matter, during which businessman and Kremlin critic Bill Browder accused Switzerland of not freezing enough of the money originating from Russia. Moscow is still able to use financial resources located in Switzerland for the war.
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