Swiss may need to get used to U.S. tariffs, official says

ZURICH, Dec 2 (Reuters) - Switzerland may need to get used to U.S. tariffs, a top Swiss trade negotiator was quoted as saying on Tuesday after the country reached a tariff deal to get parity with the European Union.

In August, U.S. President Donald Trump imposed a 39% tariff on Switzerland, the highest on any country in Europe, though Bern and Washington struck a preliminary agreement last month to lower the tariffs to 15%, the same rate the EU has.

Helene Budliger Artieda, head of the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), said she would have preferred U.S. tariffs to go back to what they were at the start of the year. But that prospect looks unlikely any time soon, she said.

"I'm afraid we won't get there, even if the Democrats are back in power in the U.S. someday," she told the Neue Zuercher Zeitung newspaper.

Average U.S. tariffs on Swiss goods were 2.5% to 3% at the start of 2025, SECO said.

Switzerland benefited from general exemptions that make pharmaceuticals, gold and coffee exports free from the duties, Budliger Artieda said.

She estimated Switzerland would face a trade-weighted tariff burden of about 7% and save around $6 billion per year compared to the previous situation.

"I think that's a good deal," she said.

Budliger Artieda expected the lower tariffs to be effective in the first half of December, saying the U.S government shutdown and Thanksgiving had delayed implementation.

She also said it was in Switzerland's interests to have a closer relationship with the EU.

Bern has approved a wide-ranging series of new agreements with Brussels that are likely to go to parliament early next year before facing a referendum.

Budliger Artieda said: "I can only speak for the export sector and the labour market: Here, the advantages clearly outweigh the disadvantages."

(Reporting by John Revill, editing by Dave Graham)