Switzerland Moves Close to Securing Improved 15% US Tariff Deal

Switzerland is close to securing a 15 percent tariff on its exports to the US, in what would be a relief for the country after it was hit with a punishing 39 percent levy in August, according to people familiar with the matter.

A deal may be concluded within the next two weeks, said the people, who declined to be identified discussing ongoing negotiations. They also warned that nothing is finalised and the talks could still come undone, as happened during discussions between US and Swiss trade negotiators in late July.

A spokesperson for the Swiss government declined to comment. The White House also declined to comment. The Office of the US Trade Representative didn’t immediately respond.

The previous negotiations ended with Switzerland being hit with the highest tariff rate the US imposed on any developed nation. Since then, the country has been trying to secure better terms, an effort that gained momentum last week when a group of Swiss billionaires and corporate executives met Donald Trump at the Oval Office.

The meeting went so well that Trump subsequently ordered Trade Representative Jamieson Greer to step up direct negotiations, which he did with Swiss counterparts on Friday.

A deal would mark the successful culmination of weeks of shuttle diplomacy to Washington by Switzerland’s top trade diplomat, Helene Budliger Artieda, combined with the Swiss corporate charm offensive. A 15 percent rate would match the tariff on the neighbouring European Union and be a vast improvement on the 39 percent bombshell that Trump announced on Aug. 1, Switzerland’s national holiday.

The initial punitive tariff has been linked to Trump’s view of a perceived trade imbalance between the two countries, specifically a near $40 billion US goods deficit. Switzerland had tried to counter that this was offset by imports of services.

What made the Aug. 1 announcement worse was that senior Swiss officials believed they had successfully negotiated a better deal with their US counterparts, which only needed sign-off from Trump.

Switzerland can’t afford to lose too much time in its bid to get the levy reduced, as there are emerging signs of the damage caused by tariffs. The economy likely shrank in the third quarter, and the country’s central bank says the outlook “has deteriorated due to significantly higher US tariffs.” Unemployment is also rising, albeit from a low level, and is at the highest in four years.

By Bastian Benrath-Wright, Hugo Miller, Fabienne Kinzelmann

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