Swiss add lustre to Trump trade deal with gold refining plan, sources say

By Dave Graham

ZURICH (Reuters) -Switzerland is proposing that its gold industry builds a refinery in the United States or increases its processing capacity there as part of a plan to reduce U.S. trade tariffs, according to two people familiar with the matter.

President Donald Trump on August 7 slapped 39% tariffs on Swiss goods imports due to the U.S. trade deficit with Switzerland, which scrapped its own industrial tariffs at the start of last year.

That goods trade deficit with Switzerland has been chiefly due to Swiss exports of chemicals and pharmaceutical products, plus gold. Since the tariffs kicked in, the Swiss government and the private sector have been working together to lower them.

Switzerland is a top refiner of gold, and part of the plan is for the gold industry to raise its refining capacity in the U.S. to help even out trade flows, said the people familiar with discussions, speaking on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter.

That meant building a refinery or investing in extra capacity in the U.S., the sources said.

The Swiss Economy Ministry said confidential talks with the United States were ongoing at various levels and that it was not commenting on them.

Christoph Wild, president of Swiss precious metals association ASFCMP, declined to comment on whether a refinery would be built. But he said as long as gold was helping inflate the deficit, the industry had to explore how to prevent this.

"This could even be by meeting U.S. demand from within the United States," he said.

Swiss Economy Minister Guy Parmelin last Friday held what he called "constructive" talks with Trump's top economic officials. The gold plan was in place then, the sources said, and negotiations between the two countries are ongoing.

PHARMA EYES US PRODUCTION

Switzerland has been working to present Trump with a proposal that comprises both spending on U.S. goods and additional investment in the United States.

To reduce the deficit caused by the pharma sector, the aim is for Swiss companies to meet all U.S. demand with products made in the United States, the sources said.

It could even include enough extra production to enable Swiss pharma firms to export from the U.S., the sources added.

Switzerland hopes its pharma companies can thus be exempted from any potential tariffs resulting from a separate so-called U.S. Section 232 investigation into whether U.S. reliance on foreign drug production threatens national security, they said.

Swiss pharmaceutical industry association Interpharma argued that once services are included, there is no real U.S. deficit and that seeking to eliminate the goods shortfall at the expense of pharma companies would harm Switzerland's economy.

It noted, though, that there is a trend towards catering for large markets via more local production. While increasing capacity in the U.S. could relieve pressure on Switzerland, it would likely damage it as a pharmaceutical hub, it said.

Bern also intends to increase procurement of U.S. military goods and enable the United States to sell more liquefied natural gas through and to Switzerland.

To help balance trade, the plan involves booking more energy trades by Swiss firms through Switzerland instead of London, the people said.

(Reporting by Dave Graham; Editing by Hugh Lawson)