The United States and Switzerland have “essentially” reached a trade agreement to reduce tariffs on Swiss goods from 39% to 15%, and the White House plans to reveal details later on Friday, US Trade Representative Jamison Greer said.
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The pending deal provides long-awaited relief to Switzerland, which has been hit by the highest tariffs imposed by the Trump administration on any developed country. The 15% tariff includes most-favored nation rates and some other existing levies, a similar structure to that applied to the European Union, Greer told reporters.
In return, Switzerland pledged to invest $200 billion in the United States during President Donald Trump’s term, including $70 billion next year, in sectors such as pharmaceuticals and gold smelting, according to Greer. The USTR added that Switzerland is also committed to purchasing more commercial aircraft from Boeing.
—We have basically reached an agreement with Switzerland. “So we will publish the details today on the White House website,” Greer said in an interview with CNBC.
The agreement comes as the culmination of months of intense negotiations between Swiss officials and businessmen, after the country’s main sectors, including watches, machinery and precision instruments, were severely affected by US tariffs.
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The base rate was already expected to reach 15%. Bloomberg had previously reported that the two sides were approaching this number. Trump later confirmed that officials were “working to reach an agreement.”
Greer stated that Switzerland “will move a lot of manufacturing to the United States – medicines, gold smelting, railway equipment:
– So we’re really excited about this deal and what it means for American manufacturing.
The advance ends a months-long dispute that began in August, when Trump surprised Bern by imposing a 39% tariff on Swiss exports, more than double the tariff applied to the European Union. Swiss President Karin Keller-Sutter rushed to the United States in an attempt to persuade Trump, without an official invitation from the White House to meet her American counterpart. However, Karen left Washington empty-handed, without achieving a reduction in the customs tariffs imposed by the US President on her country.
This measure, which the Trump administration justified as a response to what it classified as a $40 billion trade deficit in goods, surprised the Swiss authorities who believed they had already reached an understanding with their American interlocutors.
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