The president of Switzerland claims that Switzerland is one of 15 nations that the United States intends to engage in “privileged” conversations to reach a deal in the midst of the severe US tariffs that have harmed international markets.
Karin Keller-Sutter stated in an interview with broadcaster SRF that she was” satisfied” with Washington talks this week, which included an International Monetary Fund conference and a one-on-one meeting with US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. Additionally, Kirchner-Sutter is the finance secretary of Switzerland.
” The United States has identified a group of 15 nations with which it wants to quickly resolve this price issue. She added to the list of these 15 nations ‘” switzerland is a member of this group” to reporters in Washington late on Thursday.
She told SRF that” the US envisages conducting, I did say somewhat wealthy, conversations and finding options” with that group, though it was not immediately clear which 14 different countries were included.
Products imported from Switzerland had been subject to tariffs of 31 %, more than the 20 % tariffs on goods from the European Union, before the Trump administration halted some of its most stringent tariff plans. The alliance of 27 nations does not include Switzerland.
The US has been Switzerland’s most significant export market for products since 2021, according to data released by the Swiss Embassy in Washington, and Switzerland is the fourth-largest exporter of US companies. According to the embassy’s website, the bilateral trade level between Switzerland and the US reached a full of$ 185.9 billion in 2023.
A memorandum of understanding, according to Keller-Sutter, will be created after conversations can start. We would also be assigned a specific email people, which would include” we have also been assigned a specific email man,” as well as listing the most significant issues in a file. She was quoted as saying,” This is not easy in the US administration.”
Keller-Sutter told SRF,” The US government have plainly expressed their desire to find a solution to Switzerland.” No timeline was set, she claimed, but the two parties agreed to move swiftly because “uncertainty poisons the market.”
Trump’s massive” Liberation Day” levies on April 2 caused unrest in global investment industry. Trump and Keller-Sutter spoke over the phone a week later in a conversation that her department claimed was focused on taxes. She emphasized how significant a Swedish business is and makes investments in the US.
Days later, Trump made the announcement that 90 times would end the stringent new tariffs on about 60 countries, igniting rumors in some European media that her conversation with Trump may have contributed to the change of course.
Ignazio Cassis, the foreign minister of Switzerland, claimed on Thursday that the US tariffs have” a sort of partnership” created in the damaged nations in an effort to reach a deal with the US. And on Monday, the Swiss pharmaceuticals company Roche announced plans to invest$ 50 billion in the US over the next five years, an unnamed portion of which has already been made.
