US President Donald Trump raises his grip upon his arrival at the White House in Washington, DC, on August 3, 2025, after spending the weekend at his residence.
Mandel and | AFP | Gety pictures
Tensions and fears rise in Switzerland, as the deadline for the distribution of a trade agreement with the United States is waving on the horizon just days.
Without a deal, Switzerland He faces 39 % duties Its goods that were imported to the United States, after being subjected to one of the highest new tariff rates in the last era of US President Donald Trump’s commercial policy last week. The many duty surprised many, as large -scale reports had previously indicated that a trade agreement was close, and was missing Trump’s signature.
During the weekend, reports emerged that the higher definitions followed an unacceptable phone call on Thursday between Swiss President Karen Keeler Street and Trump-who was rejected by Swiss officials, according to Reuters. The Swiss Federal Adviser did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment.
Jay Barmelin, a member of the Swiss Federal Council and head of the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Education and Research, told local media that the government was open to changing its proposal to the United States – but it may be difficult to finish by the deadline on August 7, Reuters I mentioned.
Swiss leaders are scheduled to meet on Monday to discuss the latest developments.
Elsewhere, American Trade Representative Jameson Jarir was somewhat dumped by the presence of a wave of imminent commercial agreements, Saying CBS news that he did not expect negotiating the latest customs tariffs in the coming days, and that “these tariff rates are largely.”
Fears in the Swiss business community
Industry groups and business leaders have caused the potential repercussions of companies, which can include huge job losses.
“It was more than a surprise. We were all shocked,” Jean -Tritrlan, head of international relations in the department and member of the Executive Council at Economiesuisse, told CNBC, Carlin Roth and Rarta and Rittek Gopta in “Early Europe” on Monday.
Ratenander indicated that it would be difficult for Swiss companies to compensate for the impact of the customs tariff by 39 %. “This high rate of many companies will cut trade, and we are convinced that the deal is still better for both sides than just cutting trade.”
He added that “there is no alternative to the United States” in terms of export markets, although Switzerland gives priority to diversification and Swiss companies find success all over the world.
The main Swiss exports include chemical, pharmaceutical products, watches, jewelry, gold, chocolate and electronics.
The SMI index in Switzerland in Switzerland was closed to spend a national holiday when the new US tariff was announced on Friday, but it opened by 1.2 % less at 8:30 am in London on Monday. The shares of the chemical company SIKA decreased by 2.1 %, while luxury groups Richemont and Roche traded around 1.5 %.
The broader Swiss stock index decreased by 1.5 % in early deals.
UBS analysts said on Friday that the direct impact on the Swiss -Swiss stock market is a “negative, but not destroyed.” They have placed a sign that the worst companies will include watch and machinery manufacturing companies, some MedTEH and smaller companies that depend more on exports.
Fears also appeared on the Swiss economic outlook in a scenario without a deal.
Gianluigi Mandrozato, the chief economist at EFG Asset Management, told CNBC to “Europe ExtRED Edition” on Monday that the risk of Swiss recession increased after the announcement, as the American export tariff was set over about 10 % of the economy.
Mandrozato added that the fees will put the pressure on the economy, and therefore the Swiss National Bank, which has already reduced interest rates to zero to avoid weak inflation and the strength of the Swiss franc.
A deal in the future?
While business leaders hope to reach a Swiss -USA deal in time, there is currently a lot of uncertainty, according to Attsland’s Economiesuisse.
While the Swiss government was working on a new offer, “It is completely open at the present time.”
Mandrozato said it remains “very difficult to know” whether the government will be able to negotiate a better deal that the current 39 % rate before the deadline.
“It seems that trade negotiations with the United States eventually summarize what Donald Trump prefers,” Mandrozato said, adding that it was also difficult to assess what the final negotiation points could be.
– CNBC’s Carolin Roth and Retica Gupta He contributed to this report.
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