No deal for Swiss as tariffs deadline looms – despite last-minute Trump callpublished at 22:56 British Summer Time
Imogen Foulkes
Reporting from Geneva
Swiss President Karin Keller-Sutter says there is no deal with the US on tariffs.
In a post on social media Keller-Sutter says she managed to have a last minute phone call with Donald Trump today, but that no agreement could be reached.
The sticking point for the president, she says, was the US trade deficit with Switzerland.
Trump announced 31% tariffs on Switzerland on ‘liberation day’ last April.
The Swiss were hopeful they could negotiate – in May, Keller-Sutter told US Trade Secretary Scott Bessent that Switzerland’s investment in the US generates tens of thousands of jobs, and hinted at more.
Switzerland also produces things the US needs, but does not make itself, such as specific machine tools, and significant pharmaceuticals.
But in the race by so many countries to get a deal with the US, it may be that the Swiss got elbowed out of the way.
Or, hard-headed Swiss business minds simply decided the demands from Washington were unacceptable.
But this evening the mood in Switzerland is despondent.
The 1 August deadline for tariff deals is also Swiss national day, Switzerland’s equivalent of the Fourth of July.
Until the last minute the Swiss had hoped to find an understanding ear in Washington. Now, they feel they are being unfairly punished for producing high quality products that the world’s biggest economy loves to buy.
