Swiss deploy appeal offensive in bid to slash crippling Trump tariffs

[ad_1] <img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/16d3/live/881351f0-c0b0-11f0-8456-eff94716b162.jpg.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/16d3/live/881351f0-c0b0-11f0-8456-eff94716b162.jpg.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/16d3/live/881351f0-c0b0-11f0-8456-eff94716b162.jpg.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/16d3/live/881351f0-c0b0-11f0-8456-eff94716b162.jpg.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/16d3/live/881351f0-c0b0-11f0-8456-eff94716b162.jpg.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/16d3/live/881351f0-c0b0-11f0-8456-eff94716b162.jpg.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/16d3/live/881351f0-c0b0-11f0-8456-eff94716b162.jpg.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/16d3/live/881351f0-c0b0-11f0-8456-eff94716b162.jpg.webp" loading="eager" alt="AP President Donald Trump, smiles during his meeting with Syria's President Ahmad al-Sharaa, at the White House in Washington, Monday, Nov. 10, 2025" class="sc-5340b511-0 hLdNfA"/> AP Trump was pictured on Monday apparently with the Swiss presents on his desk within the Oval Workplace

Swiss ministers are in Washington for talks geared toward slashing US President Donald Trump's steep 39% tariffs on Switzerland's exports to the US – the very best fee in Europe.

Preliminary makes an attempt by Swiss President Karin Keller Sutter to vary Trump's thoughts fell on deaf ears. However a go to by enterprise leaders seems to have modified his thoughts.

Swiss business chiefs got here to the Oval Workplace on 4 November bearing presents, together with a Rolex gold watch and a specifically engraved gold bar from Swiss-based gold refining firm MKS.

For months the Swiss have been making an attempt to deliver down the excessive US tariff fee which has already hit Switzerland laborious.

Trump's response to the Swiss president's bid was that she "was a pleasant girl, however she didn't wish to hear".

However final week's non-public enterprise initiative adopted a extra unconventional method.

Already this week Trump has stated a deal is being labored on to deliver the tariffs "slightly bit decrease… I have never set any quantity".

After their talks the Swiss industrialists stated in a press release "our whole initiative was undertaken within the spirit of Swiss unity between the non-public and public sectors".

Some enterprise figures, notably these buying and selling in luxurious items, gold, or commodities, already had contacts in Trump's circle.

In September, Trump appeared on the US Open tennis closing within the Rolex VIP field hosted by the Swiss watch firm's chief government Jean Frédéric Dufour.

<img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/891f/live/6a57dd60-c0a7-11f0-8ef8-bf132581f35b.jpg.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/891f/live/6a57dd60-c0a7-11f0-8ef8-bf132581f35b.jpg.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/891f/live/6a57dd60-c0a7-11f0-8ef8-bf132581f35b.jpg.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/891f/live/6a57dd60-c0a7-11f0-8ef8-bf132581f35b.jpg.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/891f/live/6a57dd60-c0a7-11f0-8ef8-bf132581f35b.jpg.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/891f/live/6a57dd60-c0a7-11f0-8ef8-bf132581f35b.jpg.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/891f/live/6a57dd60-c0a7-11f0-8ef8-bf132581f35b.jpg.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/891f/live/6a57dd60-c0a7-11f0-8ef8-bf132581f35b.jpg.webp" loading="lazy" alt="MANDEL NGAN/AFP US President Donald Trump (L), alongside Rolex CEO Jean-Frederic Dufour, waves as he arrives to attend the men's singles final tennis match between Spain's Carlos Alcaraz and Italy's Jannik Sinner on the last day of the US Open tennis tournamen" class="sc-5340b511-0 hLdNfA"/> MANDEL NGAN/AFP Jean Frédéric Dufour and Trump stood collectively within the Rolex VIP field in New York in September

The president, apparently guessing what was happening, even requested if Dufour would have been there if Trump had not slapped such steep tariffs on Switzerland.

Final week Dufour met Trump once more, this time within the Oval Workplace, together with fellow enterprise leaders together with Johann Rupert from luxurious items maker Richemont and Marwan Shakarchi from MKS.

It's fairly regular these days for any chief heading to the Oval Workplace to return bearing a present.

UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer introduced an invite from King Charles for a lavish state go to. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz provided a framed copy of Trump's German grandfather's delivery certificates.

Requests for affirmation of the presents to the 2 Swiss firms concerned introduced a "no remark" from Rolex and MKS.

However days after the assembly, Trump was pictured within the Oval Workplace with what regarded very very similar to a Rolex "Datejust" desk clock, produced by the corporate as a collector's merchandise, and value tens of hundreds of {dollars}.

<img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/c431/live/1859f400-c0b4-11f0-8a6c-bdcd4bb2f081.jpg.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/c431/live/1859f400-c0b4-11f0-8a6c-bdcd4bb2f081.jpg.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/c431/live/1859f400-c0b4-11f0-8a6c-bdcd4bb2f081.jpg.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/c431/live/1859f400-c0b4-11f0-8a6c-bdcd4bb2f081.jpg.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/c431/live/1859f400-c0b4-11f0-8a6c-bdcd4bb2f081.jpg.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/c431/live/1859f400-c0b4-11f0-8a6c-bdcd4bb2f081.jpg.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/c431/live/1859f400-c0b4-11f0-8a6c-bdcd4bb2f081.jpg.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/c431/live/1859f400-c0b4-11f0-8a6c-bdcd4bb2f081.jpg.webp" loading="lazy" alt="BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP US President Donald Trump shakes hands with US Senator James Risch, Republican from Idaho during a swearing-in ceremony " class="sc-5340b511-0 hLdNfA"/> BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP The Rolex desk clock was pictured on Trump's desk on Monday

A White Home official confirmed the 2 objects had been given to Trump.

The US president receives hundreds of presents yearly and so they then turn out to be US property, deposited with the Nationwide Archives and filed yearly by the state division.

They're ultimately transferred to a presidential library. Some presents will be stored however presidents must pay federal taxes if they don't come from an in depth relative.

In 1969, President Richard Nixon gently refused the reward of a Swiss Omega watch to commemorate the Moon landings.

No matter occurs to the Swiss presents, Trump's stance in the direction of the Swiss seems to be softening, telling reporters he's engaged on one thing "to assist Switzerland".

Swiss economic system minister Man Parmelin and chief commerce negotiator Helene Budliger Artieda, who travelled to Washington on Wednesday, are extra hopeful than they've been in months, amid recommendations that 39% tariff could also be decreased to fifteen% - the identical as Switzerland's neighbours within the EU.

In return, guarantees from the Swiss pharmaceutical giants to construct extra manufacturing crops within the US are already on the desk. Additionally it is reported that Swiss Worldwide Airways, whose fleet is primarily Airbus, could pivot in the direction of Boeing.

However will or not it's sufficient? Swiss business is ready with bated breath. The tariffs are starting to chunk, with quite a few Swiss firms warning they must furlough workers if nothing modifications.

The Swiss do have yet another extremely influential determine they'll name on.

Fifa president and Swiss citizen Gianni Infantino, lengthy a good friend of Trump's, was reportedly urged by some Swiss parliamentarians to attempt to change the president's thoughts.

As a part of preparations for subsequent yr's World Cup within the US, Canada and Mexico, Infantino visited the Oval Workplace in August bearing the trophy.

Because the cameras rolled he handed it to Trump saying he was "a winner". The president responded asking "can I maintain it? That is a phenomenal piece of gold".