Swiss President talks trade with Trump
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Swiss President talks trade with Trump
Swiss President Guy Parmelin has discussed trade relations with United States counterpart Donald Trump at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos.
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“Davos is not Davos without the US President,” said Parmelin after the meeting.
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Switzerland and the US have different interpretations of trade figures. Trump referred to a US trade deficit with Switzerland of around $40 billion. Parmelin pointed out, that according to the latest figures, the deficit now stands at $8.8 billion in favour of the US.
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The meeting was also attended by Swiss finance minister Karin Keller-Sutter and foreign minister Ignazio Cassis, and from the US side, secretary of state Marco Rubio and treasury secretary Scott Bessent.
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The delegations sat together for around 15 minutes in the WEF Congress Centre. Parmelin described the tone of the meeting as “courteous but firm”.
Trump originally stated he was impose a 39% tariff rate on Switzerland, but in November indicated a lower rate of 15%.
The tariff rate is subject to both sides negotiating a trade deal by the end of March. Official trade talks are scheduled to start in the first half of February, according to Bloomberg.
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Translated from German by AI/mga
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