The US reduces tariffs on goods from Switzerland. The decision will be retroactive

Reducing US tariffs on goods from Switzerland from 39%. up to 15 percent will apply retroactively from November 14, the country's government announced on Wednesday. Switzerland has been subjected to higher tariffs by the US than any other country in Europe.

On November 14, the United States and Switzerland reached a preliminary agreement under which Washington would reduce tariffs on Swiss goods and Swiss companies have pledged to invest $200 billion in the United States by the end of 2028.

In a statement, the Swiss economy ministry said that with the current US tariff ceiling of 15%. weighted by trade volume, U.S. tariffs imposed on Switzerland will fall by about 10 percentage points on average, which will improve access for Swiss companies to the U.S. market.

This will also strengthen the competitiveness of Swiss companies, which will again benefit from similar conditions on the US market as EU companies or other US trading partners with a similar economic structure, the ministry wrote.

US President Donald Trump imposed tariffs on Switzerland in August, saying they were justified by the deficit the US has in trade with the country.

These tariffs were the highest imposed by the Trump administration on any European country, which negatively surprised the Swiss business community. Despite negotiations conducted by officials, Trump changed his decision only after a widely publicized visit to the White House in November by a group of Swiss entrepreneurs who pledged to invest $200 billion in the United States.

However, until Wednesday's announcement, it was not clear when the tariff reduction would come into force, and many Swiss companies refrained from shipping goods while waiting for their entry into force.

Reducing customs tariffs will increase Switzerland's economic growth by 0.3 to 0.5 percentage points next year, said Hans Gersbach, an economist at the KOF Institute at the ETH University in Zurich, quoted by Reuters. (PAP)

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