Late Thursday evening, shortly before the start of Switzerland's national holiday, Karin Keller-Sutter writes on X: I had a final conversation with US President Trump today before the deadline for US tariffs expires. The president's main focus is on the trade deficit. No agreement could be reached on the memorandum of understanding negotiated between Switzerland and the US.

Shortly before the deadline (August 1), the White House published a list of the adjusted reciprocal tariffs. Switzerland was also listed there – at 39 percent. This makes Switzerland the worst tariff deal in Europe! Furthermore, the tariff is significantly higher than Trump announced in April, when the figure was 31 percent.

How the Federal Council reacts to the US tariffs

According to the Federal Department of Finance, the Federal Council noted the additional tariffs proposed by the US with great regret. The 39 percent deviates significantly from the draft joint declaration of intent, Pascal Hollenstein, communications officer at the Federal Department of Finance, told SRF.

Switzerland remains in contact with the responsible authorities in the USA. They will analyze the situation and decide on the next steps, Hollenstein continued.

Tariff rates to come into force in a week

The new tariffs for a large number of US trading partners will take effect in a week, not this Friday. US President Donald Trump issued this decree on Thursday. The White House justified this on Thursday (local time) by saying that border and customs authorities should be given more time to implement the new system.

At the beginning of April, Trump sparked a tariff conflict with trading partners around the world. He announced high import surcharges for numerous countries, but then reduced them to ten percent to facilitate negotiations. However, higher tariffs were already in place for some products, such as steel and aluminum products, which were already subject to a 50 percent import surcharge.