US, Switzerland close in on deal to ease Trump's crippling tariffs

By David Lawder and John Revill

WASHINGTON/ZURICH (Reuters) -The U.S. and Switzerland edged closer to a trade deal on Thursday to reduce President Donald Trump's crippling 39% tariffs on Swiss imports and shrink Switzerland's trade surplus with the U.S. after talks in Washington on Thursday, officials from the two countries said.

Swiss Economy Minister Guy Parmelin told reporters after meeting with U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer that they "had a very good talk. We clarified virtually everything."

Parmelin declined to provide details of the discussions but said there would be further communication when everything is "finally clear."

A Swiss source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said after the meeting a deal had effectively been reached.

A senior U.S. official said the meeting was "very positive," and could lead to a reduction in the U.S. tariffs if Trump accepts proposed terms.

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Swiss officials presented a plan to reduce and eliminate the trade surplus with the U.S., the official said, adding U.S. officials expected to see a meaningful reduction in Swiss tariffs on U.S. products, as well as reductions in non-tariff barriers.

Switzerland had a $38.3 billion goods trade surplus with the U.S. in 2024 according to U.S. Census Bureau data. This rose to $55.7 billion in 2025 through July, reflecting primarily the front-loading of U.S. imports from Switzerland during the first quarter, before Trump imposed his "reciprocal" tariffs in early April.

The U.S. official also said announcements by Swiss pharmaceutical companies such as Roche to invest in the U.S. were having a positive impact.

"There's a quite focused effort by the Swiss business community to make sure that a lot of the things that create our deficit with Switzerland, that they reshore those here to United States, so that the sources of that irritation, that deficit are reduced or eliminated," the official said.

Parmelin had described as "very constructive" a conversation the pair had with Greer on a video telephone call on Friday.

Prior to Thursday's meeting in Washington, a Swiss source said the Swiss side was hopeful a deal could be reached to lower the tariffs to 15% by this week or next, although it would need a final sign-off from Trump.

'RAY OF HOPE'

This week Trump said he was working on a deal to lower the tariffs on goods from Switzerland.

"I haven't set any number, but we're going to be working on something to help Switzerland," Trump said.

A reduction in tariffs to 15% from 39% would be a "ray of hope" for Swiss industry, said Hans Gersbach, a director of the KOF Economic Institute at ETH Zurich.

Switzerland's machinery, precision instruments, watchmaking, and food sectors, which have the U.S. as a big export market, would get the most relief from such a cut, he added.

At a tariff rate of 39%, between 7,500 and 15,000 full-time jobs in Switzerland would be at risk, KOF estimates. But a rate of 15% would dispel such a threat, Gersbach said.

In the latter case, Swiss economic growth, now forecast by KOF at 0.9% in 2026, would exceed 1% again, he added.

"This would be a relief for the entire economy," Gersbach said.

(Reporting by David Lawder and Andrea Shalal in Washington, John Revill and Ariane Luthi in Zurich and Dave Graham; Editing by Clarence Fernandez and Lincoln Feast.)