Swiss minister says no negotiations yet with U.S. over trade

ZURICH (Reuters) - Swiss Economy Minister Guy Parmelin said on Thursday there are no negotiations yet with the United States over trade following the U.S. government's decision to announce tariffs last week.

Switzerland was shocked to initially be hit with steeper U.S. import tariffs than the European Union, until President Donald Trump temporarily reduced most of the rates above 10% for nearly all countries on Wednesday.

That was an improvement for Switzerland, but coping with added trade barriers was never simple, Parmelin said.

(Reporting by Dave Graham, Editing by Friederike Heine)