Swiss The president and other senior officials traveled to Washington on a hasty scheduled trip on Tuesday to reach a deal with the Trump administration to face steep U.S. tariffs, which has created huge concerns for the Swiss industry, such as chocolate, machinery and watchmakers.
Last week announced that it would face a situation where it would face Tariff up to 39% Starting on Thursday – the move surprised many Swiss business leaders.
This rate is 2 1/2 times higher than the ratio on European Union The goods exported to the United States are nearly four times as high as those exported to the United States by the United Kingdom
This is also more than 31% than the 31% facing Switzerland when it was president. Donald Trump In early April, he announced his “liberation day” tariffs on products from dozens of countries.
The Swiss government said the trip was “to promote meetings with the U.S. authorities in a short time and hold talks to improve tariffs in Switzerland.”
Keller-Sutter, also serves as Swiss finance minister, faces criticism in the Swiss media for his last call with Trump before the United States Deadline for tariffs Expired on August 1st. She led a team including Economic Secretary Guy Parmelin.
Trump mentioned the phone in an interview with CNBC on Tuesday, saying “That woman is good, but she doesn’t want to listen,” he told her: “We have a $41 billion deficit with you, Mrs. … and you want to pay a 1% tariff.”
He added: “I said, ‘You’re not going to pay 1%.”
It is not clear where the $41 billion figure comes from. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the U.S. trade in goods with Switzerland was unbalanced last year at $38.3 billion.
Swiss officials believe that U.S. goods face almost zero tariffs in Switzerland, and the Swiss government said the wealthy alpine country is the sixth largest foreign investor in the United States and a major investor in the research and development field.
“When you deal with an unpredictable person like Donald Trump, it’s hard to negotiate,” said Ivan Slatkine, head of the Romandie Enterprises Federation, who expressed concern that Swiss goods could become less competitive with rivals in neighboring EU.
“We have a (Swiss) government that makes the impression of this deal, and it just waits for the president’s signature,” he said on the phone. “We have the impression that we were punished, but we don’t know why.”
The strong pharmaceutical industry in Switzerland – Committed to invest hundreds of billions of dollars in the United States In recent months, amid tariff concerns – not subject to a 39% tax rate. But Slatkin said steep tariff levels could be designed to send Swiss big pharmaceutical companies – represented by Roche and Roche Nova – A message can also be under pressure.
The trip came the day after a remarkable meeting of the Federal Council, the executive branch of Switzerland, and said it was “desire to hold talks with the United States on the tariff situation”.
After consulting with Swiss businesses, the council said it had developed “new approaches” with U.S. officials and seeks to continue negotiations.
“Switzerland enters this new phase, ready to make a more attractive offer, which has led us to consider the issues and try to alleviate the current tariff situation,” the Council statement said.
Swiss companies will now assume one of the steepest export responsibilities under Friday’s U.S. announcement – only Laos, Myanmar and Syria have higher figures at 40-41%.
