Switzerland’s president heads to Washington in effort to avert steep US tariffs

FILE - Swiss federal president Karin Keller-Sutter attends the Informal Meeting of EU Ministers for Economic and Financial Affairs and Central Bank Governors in Warsaw, Poland, on April 11, 2025. Photo by Czarek Sokolowski /AP

Article content

GENEVA (AP) — Switzerland’s president and other top officials were traveling to Washington on Tuesday in a hastily arranged trip aimed at striking a deal with the Trump administration over steep U.S. tariffs that have cast a pall over Swiss industries like chocolates, machinery and watchmaking.

Article content

President Karin Keller-Sutter was leading the delegation after last week’s announcement that exports of Swiss goods to the U.S. will face a whopping 39% percent tariff starting Thursday.

Article content

Article content

Article content

That is over 2 1/2 times higher than the rate on European Union goods exported to the U.S. and nearly four times higher than on British exports to the U.S. Many Swiss companies in industries including watchmaking and chocolates have expressed concern about the issue.

Article content

Article content

It’s also more than the 31% that Switzerland had been set to face when U.S. President Donald Trump announced his “Liberation Day” tariffs on products from dozens of countries in early April.

Article content

The Swiss government said the trip was “to facilitate meetings with the U.S. authorities at short notice and hold talks with a view to improving the tariff situation for Switzerland.”

Article content

Keller-Sutter, who also serves as Switzerland’s finance minister, has faced criticism in Swiss media over a last-ditch call with Trump before a U.S. deadline on tariffs expired Aug. 1. She was leading a team that included Economy Minister Guy Parmelin.

Article content

In an interview with CNBC on Tuesday, Trump alluded to the call, saying “the woman was nice, but she didn’t want to listen” and that he had told her: “We have a $41 billion deficit with you, Madame … and you want to pay 1% tariffs.”

Article content

Article content

“I said, ‘you’re not going to pay 1%,'” he added.

Article content

It was not immediately clear where that $41 billion figure came from. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the United States ran a $38.3 billion trade imbalance on goods last year with Switzerland.

Article content

Swiss officials have argued that American goods face virtually zero tariffs in Switzerland, and the Swiss government says the wealthy Alpine country is the sixth-biggest foreign investor in the United States and the leading investor in research and development.

Article content

Ivan Slatkine, the head of the Federation of Romandie Enterprises, which regroups companies in French-speaking Switzerland, told Le Temps newspaper that 39% tariffs amounted to a “hammer blow for the entire Swiss economy.” Some Swiss companies _ like high-end watchmakers with little direct competition — might face less impact, but others in airplane parts, machines and mid-level watchmaking would be hit, he said.

Article content

“For all the companies that depend on the American market, it’s really bad news — in particular compared to rivals in the European Union, whose exports are taxed only at 15%,” he was quoted Tuesday as saying.