Switzerland says it is trying to get out of stiff US tariffs hours after President Donald Trump’s administration shocked the European country by announcing plans to impose a 39% tariff on Swiss goods.
The Swiss government said Friday it would be “disappointing” and decide how to proceed after Trump announced a 39% percentage.
The new tariffs set to take effect on August 7th prove to be painful for several major Swiss industries, including manufacturing and watchmaking.
In a statement on social media, the Swiss government said it was in contact with US authorities and “want to find a negotiated solution.”
“The Federal Council greatly regrets the US’s intention to unilaterally pay imports with substantial import duties despite bilateral talks and the development of Switzerland’s highly constructive position,” he added.
The Trump administration announced various new tariffs on many U.S. trading partners on Thursday, saying the move was intended to address “the continuing lack of reciprocity in our bilateral trade relations.”
Nearly 70 countries are currently facing import operations scheduled to come into effect on Friday. But most will begin on August 7th and give them a few days to either reach an agreement with Washington, lower their respective tariff rates or reach an agreement with Washington.
“Everyone was focusing on August 1st…and now there’s a new deadline,” Al Jazeera’s Kimberly Halkett reported from the White House Friday morning.
“The reason is to make sure there is a little more time and breathing space to get a little more deal. There was something very close, but there weren’t many deadlines.
Trump has negotiated a trade framework with the EU, Japan, South Korea, Indonesia and the Philippines over the past few weeks. Other countries tried to limit the threat of charging even higher tariff rates, allowing the US president to claim victory.
He said there was an agreement with other countries on Thursday, but he rejected those names.
“A lot of them are like that,” US trade representative Jamieson Greer said on Friday when asked if the country was happy with the fees Trump set.
The new tariffs include 35% of many goods from Canada, 50% in Brazil and 20% in Taiwan. Taiwan said the rate is “temporary” and is expected to reach a lower number.
The Trump administration said it has decided to impose a 39% tariff on Switzerland for what Europeans refused to make “meaning concessions” by dropping trade barriers.
“Switzerland, one of the richest and most high-income countries on the planet, cannot expect the US to withstand unilateral trade ties,” a White House official said Friday.
Swissmem, a group representing the mechanical and electrical engineering industry, said he was “really surprised” by the US move. “This is a huge shock for the export industry and the nation,” said Deputy Director Jean-Philippe Kohl.
“The tariffs are not reasonably based and are completely arbitrary. These tariffs are very violently hit by the Swiss industry, especially as the tariffs of competitors in the European Union, the UK and Japan are much lower.”
Stock market fall
But Trump’s new tariffs create even more uncertainty, with many details unclear.
Global stock markets stumbled on Friday, with Europe’s Stoxx 600 down 1.8% per day and 2.5% per week.
Wall Street also dropped significantly on Friday.
In a report from the New York Stock Exchange, Al Jazeera’s Christen Salumey explained that the US market is “unquestionably down” following the tariff announcement, but the decline wasn’t as bad as what was seen after the first round in April.
“When the first round of tariffs was enacted, the market fell sharply, but then traded and regained a lot of losses around a month.
Still, she said, “The concern is that the fundamental foundations of the economy are tense and the total weight of tariffs has not yet been seen.”
