Parmelin hopes for progress in US customs negotiations by July
Keystone-SDA
Swiss Economics Minister Guy Parmelin is hoping for results in the tariff negotiations with the US by the beginning of July. However, this also depends on the intentions of the US, which is negotiating in parallel with numerous other countries, said the economics minister on Tuesday.
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Switzerland must tackle numerous technical and political problems, said Parmelin in a speech at the Private Banking Day in Zurich. So far, the focus had been on identifying the important topics and formulating a letter of intent.
At a certain point, however, the federal government also needs a negotiating mandate from Parliament, said Parmelin. However, the US had made it clear to Switzerland that the submission of the letter of intent could extend the deadline of July 9.
US interest in apprenticeship model
The Minister of Economic Affairs said that the US was still very interested in the Swiss apprenticeship model. His talks with the US Secretary of Education had also shown this. The US government wants to achieve a “reindustrialisation” of the country and needs many specialists to do so, Parmelin recalled.
US President Trump announced the introduction of tariffs of 31% on Swiss products at the beginning of April on so-called US Liberation Day. However, the US has suspended the introduction until July 9; in the meantime, a general tariff rate of 10% applies.
Translated from German by DeepL/jdp
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