U.S. President Donald Trump gives brief remarks to members of the press after exiting Air Force One on November 9, 2025 at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland. Trump spent the weekend at his Mar-A-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida.
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The U.S. and Switzerland are getting close to signing a trade deal to lower tariffs of 39% that President Donald Trump slapped on the country in August.
The president confirmed on Monday that White House officials were “working on a deal to get the tariffs a little lower.”
“I haven’t set any number, but we’re going to be working on something to help Switzerland,” he told reporters in the Oval Office.
“We hit Switzerland very hard. But we want Switzerland to remain successful,” he added, saying the country had been a “very good ally.”
The tariff on Swiss exports could be cut to 15%, matching the rate that was imposed on EU exports to the U.S., according to various media reports citing sources close to the talks. Bloomberg reported that a deal could be finalized within weeks.
“We are not commenting on the ongoing discussions,” a spokesperson at Switzerland’s economy ministry told CNBC, adding that Swiss Economy Minister Guy Parmelin “is in regular contact with the relevant authorities in the U.S., including USTR Jamieson Greer.”
CNBC has contacted the White House for further comment and is awaiting a response.
The duty was met with consternation in Switzerland, whose key exports include watches, jewelry, machinery, chocolate, electronics and chemical and pharmaceutical products. Shares of Swiss firms Swatch Group and Richemont traded higher at the market open on Tuesday.
High-profile Swiss businesses have been outspoken on the damage the tariff was wreaking, with the CEO of Swiss luxury watchmaker Breitling telling CNBC that the duty was “horrible” for Switzerland.
The 39% tariff was among the highest duties that Trump levied in his sweep of global tariffs this year, with the president angered by trade imbalances with the Swiss, and multiple other countries.
According to the Office of the United States Trade Representative, the U.S. goods trade deficit with Switzerland amounted to $38.5 billion last year. The Swiss government said that the trade relationship between the two was “relatively balanced,” according to a CNBC translation.
“The U.S. has a surplus of services exports and Switzerland does for goods exports,” the government said in August, adding that its goods surplus is not rooted in unfair trade practices and that over 99% of U.S. goods can be imported to Switzerland without being subject to tariffs.