The Swiss President Karin Keller-Sutter departs for the United States on Tuesday. After she spoke with the American president on Thursday evening, Donald Trump raised Swiss import tariffs to one of the highest worldwide.
Keller-Sutter is accused of being in a bad mood and misjudging the half-hour phone call with Trump, writes The Guardian. A day later, Trump announced that the import tariff for Swiss goods would increase to 39 percent.
The Swiss government denies that the increase is the result of the phone call. Although it was also “not a success,” an anonymous source tells news agency Reuters. The cabinet held an emergency consultation about it.
The Swiss President and Minister of Economic Affairs Guy Parmelin are flying to the US on Tuesday to make a new trade proposal and limit the damage. The European country, which is not part of the EU, could for example buy more liquid gas from the US.
A sixth of Swiss exports go to the US. Especially the pharmaceutical sector and watch manufacturers are threatened to be hit hard if the high tariffs become final. The US wants the tariff of 39 percent to take effect later this week.
Trump has surprised more countries with high tariffs. This applies, for example, to Thailand, where the Minister of Finance was “in shock” after the announcement. The highest tariff rate so far is 41 percent and applies to Syria. The European Union has reached an agreement, which means that a tariff of 15 percent will apply to most goods.