Customs dispute soon to be resolved? Guy Parmelin and Helene Budliger are in Washington
According to media reports, Switzerland is on the verge of a customs deal with the USA. Economics Minister Guy Parmelin and State Secretary Helene Budliger will meet US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer in Washington.
12.11.2025, 23:03
13.11.2025, 08:15
SDA
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- Federal Councillor for Economic Affairs Guy Parmelin and State Secretary Helene Budliger are meeting US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer for customs talks in Washington today, Thursday.
- It is not known whether they will also meet Donald Trump.
- The US news agency Bloomberg reported on Monday, citing people familiar with the matter, that Switzerland is close to a deal with the USA in the customs dispute.
- The agreement would include a reduction of the current US tariff on imports of numerous Swiss goods to 15 percent.
- This is not the first time since the announcement of the tariff hammer on August 1, 2025 that Switzerland has negotiated with US government representatives.
Federal Councillor Guy Parmelin traveled to the US capital Washington on Wednesday evening. This was confirmed by department spokesperson Markus Spörndli at the request of the Keystone-SDA news agency. The ajour.ch portal first reported on this.
According to Flightaware.com, the Federal Council jet Bombardier Global 7500 landed in Washington D.C. on Thursday morning at 5.21 a.m. The delegation also included the State Secretary for Economic Affairs, Helene Budliger Artieda, Spörndli added.
Parmelin plans to meet US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer on Thursday. Whether Parmelin and Budliger will also meet US President Donald Trump in Washington was still unclear on Wednesday evening (local time), according to the NZZ.
The talks would take place "on an ongoing basis", spokesman Markus Spörndli told Keystone-SDA on Thursday morning. However, a conclusion to the customs negotiations on Thursday was "rather unlikely".
SRF reported that Parmelin and Budliger Artieda had left a staff event in Bern early. Before their flight to Washington, they had been "quite optimistic". The State Secretary had canceled her planned participation in a meeting with EU economic ministers in Brussels on Thursday.
Switzerland is said to be close to a deal
The US news agency Bloomberg reported on Monday, citing people familiar with the events, that Switzerland was close to a deal with the USA in the customs dispute. According to the report, an agreement is emerging in the negotiations between the two countries. This could be reached in the coming days and weeks.
US President Donald Trump was asked about Switzerland at a press conference on Tuesday. He said: "We are working on a deal to lower their tariffs somewhat." He did not want to give a specific figure when asked.
"But we will work on a solution to help Switzerland," said Trump. "We've hit Switzerland very hard. We want it to continue to be successful." Switzerland is "a very good ally", Trump continued.
US tariff on Swiss goods to fall to 15 percent
The agreement includes a reduction in the current US tariff on imports of numerous Swiss goods to 15 percent, Bloomberg wrote, citing sources familiar with the matter. Since the beginning of August, Switzerland has been subject to a US punitive tariff of 39 percent. The EU, however, has only been hit with a 15 percent tariff.
The watch, medical, machinery, electrical and metal industries in particular are likely to benefit from lower tariffs, as UBS stated when asked by the news agency AWP.
According to the Luzerner Kantonalbank, the reduction in customs duties will also eliminate the competitive disadvantage for the affected sectors, particularly compared to EU competitors. The harmonization of tariffs should also reduce the pressure on Swiss exporters to relocate their production to the EU or the USA.
Not the first meeting
This is not the first time since the announcement of the tariff hammer that Switzerland has negotiated with US government representatives. Shortly before the 39% tariffs came into force in August, Guy Parmelin and President Karin Keller-Sutter traveled to Washington.
However, a meeting with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio did not produce any direct results at the time. In September, Parmelin traveled to the USA again at short notice and held talks at ministerial level, according to the Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research.
