Swiss President Leaves Washington Without Lower Tariff

(Bloomberg) — Switzerland’s president left Washington without announcing any success in lowering the 39% tariff that US President Donald Trump has put on her country.

A delegation led by Karin Keller-Sutter presented a new proposal to US officials, according to a person familiar with the plan, speaking on the condition of anonymity. They failed to clinch a better deal, and neither did they manage to see Trump before their departure.

The Swiss president had dashed to the US on Tuesday in a last-minute attempt to sway Trump, flying there without an invite from the White House for a meeting with her American counterpart.

Keller-Sutter’s plane took off from Dulles International Airport at 6:17 p.m. local time on Wednesday, according to FlightAware tracking service. The Swiss government didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Earlier in the day, she met Secretary of State Marco Rubio and discussed the offer with him, the person said. In a post on social media, she said that they talked about bilateral cooperation, tariffs and international issues, without elaborating. Rubio isn’t responsible for bilateral deals.

“We had a very good meeting, a very friendly and open exchange about common topics and interests,” Keller-Sutter told Swiss public broadcaster SRF.

A person familiar with her thinking said she won’t strike a deal with the US at any cost.

The Swiss leader’s departure leaves Switzerland with the highest American tariff of any developed nation, which is set to take effect at 12:01 a.m. New York time on Thursday.

The level of Trump’s tariff stunned the Swiss after talks that they thought looked promising. If the 39% tariff rate came into effect across the board — including on pharmaceuticals — that would put up to 1% of Switzerland’s economic output at risk over the medium term, according to Bloomberg Economics.

Switzerland’s $38.5 billion trade surplus with the US was probably the main obstacle to a deal.

The paradox faced by the Swiss president — who is also finance minister — is that any concessions would have been politically costly without meaningfully curbing the trade gap, as the nature of the overhang — primarily down to gold, pharmaceuticals, watches and medical devices — meant a quick reduction is unlikely.

–With assistance from Jordan Fabian.

(Updates to reflect departure has happened throughout.)

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