That's what it's about

• The US plans to impose a 39 percent tariff on Swiss exports starting August 7.
• Economy Minister Guy Parmelin calls this bad news for Switzerland.
• The Federal Council has already contacted the US authorities to analyze the situation.

The USA plans to impose a 39 percent tariff on Swiss exports starting August 7. Economics Minister Guy Parmelin calls the US government's decision bad news for Switzerland. The Federal Council has already contacted the US authorities. They will analyze the new situation and decide on the next steps. The SVP Federal Councilor announced this to CH Media on the sidelines of an August 1 brunch in Bellach SO. The mega-tariffs would weaken Switzerland's competitiveness and place a heavy burden on the export industry, Parmelin continued. Negotiations with the USA must therefore be resumed as soon as possible. Such high tariffs would have a negative impact on our competitiveness.

Strong franc already puts pressure on companies

The affected companies are under additional pressure due to the strong franc. The entire global economy is suffering from the high US tariffs, the Economics Minister continued.

Asked whether Switzerland needed to change its tactics now that the EU had reached a better deal, Parmelin stated:"The EU negotiated for 27 countries. Switzerland is independent and should remain so during the negotiations." He pointed out that Switzerland had already concluded successful trade agreements, for example with India and China.

Switzerland has already survived many crises

With regard to US policy, Parmelin emphasized that it is important to first understand what the US President is concerned about. Donald Trump is focusing heavily on the trade deficit between Switzerland and the US in the goods sector. It should be noted that 99.3 percent of US goods are already imported into Switzerland duty-free.

At the end of his speech on the national holiday, Parmelin expressed his confidence: Switzerland has already overcome many crises and will overcome this one as well.