❓WHAT HAPPENED: The United States and Switzerland reached a trade agreement reducing tariffs on Swiss goods from 39 percent to 15 percent as part of a new trade pact.
👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: President Donald J. Trump, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, Swiss government officials, and Swiss business leaders.
📍WHEN & WHERE: The agreement was finalized after recent bilateral talks in Washington and meetings at the White House earlier this month.
💬KEY QUOTE: “They’re going to send a lot of manufacturing here to the United States—pharmaceuticals, gold smelting, railway equipment.” – Jamieson Greer
🎯IMPACT: Swiss companies plan to invest $200 billion in the U.S. by 2028, while the deal also opens up new markets for U.S. agricultural and industrial products.
President Donald J. Trump agreed to cut U.S. tariffs on Switzerland from 39 percent—the highest outside those he has imposed on Brazil and China—to 15 percent as part of a new trade deal with the notoriously neutral European country. According to the Swiss government, the United States entered into a “non-binding memorandum of understanding” following successful bilateral talks in Washington, D.C.
The trade agreement was confirmed by United States Trade Representative Jamieson Greer on Friday. He stated that the U.S. and Switzerland have “essentially reached a deal.” Under its terms, the U.S. government will reduce tariffs on Switzerland and Liechtenstein—a European microstate that often negotiates alongside its larger neighbor—to 15 percent. Notably, this brings the tariff rate on Swiss goods into alignment with the rate on the European Union (EU), which Switzerland is not a member of.
For their part of the agreement, Switzerland has agreed to reduce a number of its tariffs on American goods. U.S. industries seeing relief include fishing and agriculture. The Swiss government says it will also grant certain U.S. exports duty-free status. This includes thousands of tons of U.S. beef and poultry.
“They’re going to send a lot of manufacturing here to the United States—pharmaceuticals, gold smelting, railway equipment,” Greer said regarding the deal. Several Swiss companies, such as Rolex, have pledged sizable direct investments in the American economy.
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