US customs duties: Switzerland still awaits its fate


On April 3, Donald Trump announced a 31% tax on Swiss products.
While Donald Trump announced 30% customs duties for the European Union on Saturday, Switzerland is still waiting to see what fate the American president has in store for it.
Wednesday, July 9, should have marked the end of the suspense for Switzerland. But the White House has yet to send anything to our authorities, even though since Monday, some twenty countries have received a letter from Washington announcing the customs duties of 20 to 50% that will be applied to them as of August 1.
Asked by NBC News on Thursday what would happen to countries that had not been notified of individual tariffs, Donald Trump said he could impose a 15% to 20% surcharge on them. "We're just going to say that all the remaining countries are going to pay, whether it's 20% or 15%. We're going to deal with that now," the US president told the US network.
He did not specify whether this surcharge would be in addition to the so-called basic customs duties of 10% that have already been imposed on most products entering the United States since April.
On the Swiss side, things are therefore champing at the bit, even though those concerned are hopeful that Trump will not impose exorbitant customs duties on our country. According to the German-speaking press, the Federal Council approved a declaration of intent a few days ago, which would appear to be a non-binding draft agreement. It would stipulate that in the future, Swiss products will be subject to a basic customs duty of 10%, with exceptions for certain categories. Switzerland has also already promised that its companies will invest more than 150 billion francs on American soil in the coming years.
Let's remember that on April 3, Donald Trump announced a 31% customs tax on Swiss products . Currently, Swiss products are taxed at 10%, since April. This regime is still temporary for the time being.
20 Minutes