Trump Sharply Raised Duties For Switzerland

This came after a conversation with the Swiss politician, during which he was dissatisfied with the tone of the interlocutor.

US President Donald Trump has announced that he will raise tariffs on imports from Switzerland to 39%. This came after a phone call with a Swiss politician during which he was unhappy with the tone of the conversation, Fox Business reports.

Trump said Switzerland has long enjoyed near-zero tariffs on exports of goods to the United States, which he said has led to a significant trade imbalance.

"We had a $42 billion deficit. We weren't getting anything in return, and I said, we've got to do something to even it out at least a little bit," he revealed.

Trump said he first imposed a 30 percent duty on Switzerland, which he himself called undervalued. "I imposed a 30 percent tariff - it was too low. The deficit remained large, although it became about half as large."

The US president then received an "emergency call" from, as he put it, "the prime minister of Switzerland," although the country has no prime minister - he was probably referring to Swiss Federal Council member Karin Keller-Sutter. Trump characterized the conversation as follows:

"She was very aggressive, but polite. Very aggressive. She was saying: "Sir, we're a small country. We can't do that (pull the 30% duty. - Editor's note). We can't." I could not tear her away from the phone."

The politician said the interlocutor repeatedly emphasized Switzerland's small size, to which he replied, "You can be a small country, but you and I have a $42 billion deficit."

In the end, Trump directly tied his decision to raise duties to the tone of his conversation with Keller-Sutter:

"I really didn't like the way she talked to us, so instead of giving her a reduction [in tariffs], I raised them to 39%."

Trump also criticized the perception of Switzerland as an "ultra-chic, ultra-ideal" country, saying that "they're only like that because the U.S. allows them to rip us off and make all this money."

He added that this situation is not unique to Switzerland:

"I can say the same thing about forty other countries. Some of them behave much worse."

In November 2025, the US and Switzerland eventually reached an agreement: tariffs were reduced to 15% and Swiss companies pledged to invest $200 billion in the US economy by 2028.

At the Davos Forum, Trump said the duties were reduced under pressure from Swiss businesses, including Rolex, but made it clear it was not a final decision:

"I lowered the tariff because I don't want to hurt people. But that doesn't mean it won't rise again."

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