Top Swiss business leaders meet Trump in Washington
The heads of six large Swiss companies took part in trade talks with United States President Donald Trump in Washington.
+Get the most important news from Switzerland in your inbox
The business leaders reaffirmed their conviction that a bilateral trade agreement would significantly strengthen economic exchanges, to the benefit of both countries.
+ How US tariffs impact the Swiss economy
“The purpose of this meeting was to underline the robustness and durability of economic relations” between Bern and Washington, wrote the six CEOs in a joint statement published on Wednesday evening.
The text is signed by the heads of shipowner MSC, Diego Aponte, watchmaker Rolex, Jean-Frédéric Dufour, Geneva-based luxury goods giant Richemont, Johann Rupert, commodities trader Mercuria, Daniel Jaeggi, gold refiner MKS PAMP, Marwan Shakarchi, and Zug-based investment company Partners Group, Alfred Gantner.
The meeting was held “in a constructive spirit” and enabled the Swiss leaders to “reiterate support for the ongoing talks” between the two governments. The signatories specify that they did not “take part in any direct negotiations” with the US president.
A detailed account of their discussions has been sent to the Federal Council and the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (Seco). “This initiative is part of a united approach, reflecting the convergence of public and private interests in Switzerland. In Switzerland, we know how to come together in the face of challenges”, said the letter.
The six business leaders promise to “continue to give support to the Swiss government in its efforts to find a common path that will make Switzerland stronger and consolidate the cohesion and unity that is the strength of our people and our country”.
What is your opinion? Join the debate:
More
Trump holds trade talks with Switzerland
Translated from French by DeepL/mga
We select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools to translate them into English. A journalist then reviews the translation for clarity and accuracy before publication.
Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles. The news stories we select have been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team from news agencies such as Bloomberg or Keystone.
If you have any questions about how we work, write to us at english@swissinfo.ch
In compliance with the JTI standards
More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.