Switzerland's Concerns Over U.S. Tariff Plans

By John Revill

BERN (Reuters) – Switzerland has raised concerns about plans by incoming U.S. President Donald Trump to hike tariffs and is considering how to respond should his new administration raise trade barriers, the government said on Tuesday.

Trump aims to kick the aggressive trade agenda from his first term into higher gear with across-the-board 10% tariffs on imported goods and even higher levies on imports from China.

The move could hurt the export-oriented Swiss economy, which has the United States as its biggest market, experts say.

"Switzerland is concerned about Donald Trump's announcement to impose additional tariffs on all goods imported into the U.S.,” a spokesman for the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) said.

"Switzerland clearly rejects the (Trump administration's) plans," the spokesman added.

The proposals contravene the rules-based international trading system, which is crucial to the Swiss economy, according to the spokesman.

Currently, around a fifth of Swiss goods exports go to the United States, according to customs data, making the country a more important market than Germany, China, or France.

SECO said Bern was examining "sensible responses" in the interests of the Swiss economy and seeking discussions with the relevant U.S. authorities, as well as counterparts in Germany, France, Italy, and the European Union on how to respond.

SECO did not provide details on what responses were being considered, although Switzerland's options may be limited after it eliminated all industrial tariffs this year.

Currently, the U.S. has low single-digit tariffs on the import of industrial goods, with many Swiss industrial exports to the U.S. being duty-free.