Federal Council reacts with "great regret" to US tariffs

The additional tariff of 39 percent mentioned by the US President deviates "significantly" from the draft of a joint declaration of intent. Pascal Hollenstein, Head of Communications at the Federal Department of Finance (FDF), wrote this on Friday morning at the request of the Keystone-SDA news agency. The draft was the result of intensive discussions between Switzerland and the USA over the past few months.

The Federal Council notes with great regret that the USA - despite the progress made in the bilateral talks and Switzerland's "very constructive stance from the outset" - wants to apply the unilateral additional tariffs "to a considerable extent to imports from Switzerland".

Federal Council analyzes the new situation

Switzerland remains in contact with the responsible authorities in the USA. It is seeking a solution with the USA that is "compatible with both the Swiss legal system and existing obligations", the FDF spokesperson stated. The Federal Council will analyze the new situation and decide on how to proceed.

Trump announced the Swiss tariff rate in a list on Friday night. Before the list was published, President of the Swiss Confederation Karin Keller-Sutter announced on the short messaging service "X" that she had been unable to reach an agreement with Donald Trump in the "final talks" before the initial negotiation deadline of August 1 at 6 a.m. Swiss time. For Trump, the trade deficit is the main issue.

Export industry particularly affected

The higher tariffs would burden export-oriented companies and their suppliers. In order to preserve jobs, Switzerland is continuing to rely on short-time working compensation, said Hollenstein. Industry in particular is feeling the additional customs burden. According to the FDF spokesperson, this includes the Swiss watch industry, manufacturers of machinery and precision instruments as well as the Swiss food industry.

On Thursday, also before the list of US tariffs was published, Keller-Sutter told Swiss Radio and Television (SRF) that any higher tariffs would be detrimental to the economy. However, she also told SRF that it would always be possible to negotiate further and that, as a rule, "the last word is never quite spoken".

Developments in the export industry have been significantly influenced by US tariff policy in recent months. In May, exports to North America plummeted by 39.6 percent or a further 2.3 billion Swiss francs. This is the lowest figure since the end of 2020, explained the Federal Office for Customs and Border Security in mid-June.

Tariff rate for Switzerland increases

The White House published a list of new tariffs on imports on Friday night. Switzerland is listed at 39 percent. This is higher than the tariff rate of 31% announced by US President Donald Trump in April.

Switzerland has thus received the 5th highest tariff worldwide after Brazil (50 percent), Syria (41 percent), Laos and Myanmar (40 percent each). In Europe, it is the highest. The reason for this high percentage was still unclear. The European Union was able to negotiate a tariff rate of 15 percent.

The tariffs are to come into force on August 7 - and not this Friday as initially announced. This was confirmed by a US government official to the German news agency DPA. When asked why the start date was not this Friday after all, the government official told DPA that they wanted to allow more time to implement the new rules.