Switzerland’s President Karin Keller-Sutter and Economy Minister Guy Parmelin are due to fly to Washington on Tuesday for talks aimed at lowering the hefty new tariffs that have shocked the country.
Switzerland faces a 39-percent duty, one of the highest among the dozens of economies that will be hit by new tariffs expected to come into force from August 7th.
Keller-Sutter, who is also the country’s finance minister, and Parmelin — who is also the vice president — were heading to Washington “to facilitate meetings with the US authorities at short notice and hold talks with a view to improving the tariff situation for Switzerland”, the government said in a statement.
“The aim is to present a more attractive offer to the United States in a bid to lower the level of reciprocal tariffs for Swiss exports, taking US concerns into account.”
During an extraordinary meeting on Monday, the Swiss government reaffirmed that it was “keen to pursue talks with the United States on the tariff situation”, the statement said.
“For this reason,” the president and the economy minister “are to travel to Washington on Tuesday”.
They will be accompanied by a small delegation, including the heads of the economy and international finance departments, and Bern will issue a further statement ” as there are any relevant developments”.
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US President Donald Trump had originally threatened in April to slap a 31-percent tariff on Switzerland, which promptly decided to negotiate with the United States.
By comparison, the 27-nation European Union struck its own deal with Trump and will face tariffs of 15 percent, down from a previous threat of 30 percent.
