ZURICH, August 20, 2008 (AFP) - Economic ties between the US and Switzerland have grown but the overall bilateral relationship has not improved in the past two years, the Swiss-American Chamber of Commerce said on Wednesday.

Bank secrecy rules, regulatory problems for Switzerland's biggest bank UBS in the United States and a Swiss refusal to negotiate a free trade agreement were among key elements weighing on the relationship, the chamber said in a statement.

'It will be crucial to put maximum effort in building early bridges with the new US administration (to take office next year) and make sure that Switzerland retains its long-standing role as a privileged partner,' warned the 2,500-member business group.

The United States is Switzerland's second largest export market, worth a record 18.4 billion Swiss francs (16.75 billion dollars) in 2007 while US exports to Switzerland rose 13 percent to a record 9.4 billion Swiss francs.

The United States is also the single largest foreign investor in the country, with 100 billion dollars committed as of last year while Swiss investment there came to 163 billion dollars.

Despite the healthy economic relationship, the chamber warned that there were uncertainties ahead.

'Looking ahead, several crucial question marks threaten the positive development of the Swiss-American business relationship,' it said, citing the US economic slowdown and the November presidential elections.

Against this backdrop, it warned that in 'the bilateral relationship between Switzerland the USA, the situation has not improved over the last two years.'

Switzerland's stance on protecting its agricultural sector during world trade liberalisation talks and its foreign minister's recent visit in Iran have 'not done much to align the US-Swiss interest and to strengthen the Swiss position as partner of choice.

'Finally, the current discussion on Swiss banking secrecy (rules) and the troubles of a large Swiss bank in the US do not help to improve the relationship,' the chamber said, referring to UBS.

UBS has come under pressure in the United States for allegedly facilitating massive tax evasion by wealthy US citizens, prompting it to drop offshore banking operations in the country.