The scene looked hopeful at first glance. A social media post by President Karin Keller-Sutter of Switzerland showed her smiling and shaking hands with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Washington on Wednesday, at a hastily arranged meeting after President Trump had blindsided Switzerland with a punishingly high tariff.
“We discussed bilateral cooperation, the tariff situation, and international issues,” Ms. Keller-Sutter said of the meeting with Mr. Rubio. But what she didn’t have was a trade deal. So, on Thursday Switzerland found itself in the uncomfortable position of facing a 39 percent tariff on its goods in the United States, one of the highest rates in the world.
Swiss officials are trying to untangle how their country went from being a longtime ally of the United States to an apparent pariah in the eyes of Mr. Trump. After returning to Switzerland early on Thursday, Ms. Keller-Sutter went straight to an emergency meeting of her government to figure out what course to set for further negotiations.
At a news conference after the meeting, she said that officials would “continue discussions with Washington,” and had already “optimized” Switzerland’s offer, without giving details. They wanted a deal with the United States that would lower tariffs, “but not at any price,” she said.
For Mr. Trump, the biggest issue is reducing the $40 billion U.S. trade deficit with Switzerland, and the Swiss had not done enough to address that, said a U.S. official familiar with the talks, speaking on condition of anonymity to describe sensitive discussions.
Guy Parmelin, the Swiss economy minister, said at the conference that the country’s industries would be hit hard by the high tariff rate as well as the uncertainty over when and whether it might be reduced. To shield the economy from the prospect of “mass layoffs,” the government would extend a furlough program that companies can use to keep employees on standby, he said.
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