Market News

BY  Josh Wingrove, Kate Sullivan and Bastian Benrath-Wright

(Bloomberg) -- The US and Switzerland have “essentially” reached a trade agreement to lower tariffs on Swiss goods from 39% to 15%, and the White House plans to reveal details on Friday, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said.

The pending deal delivers long-desired relief to Switzerland, which was hit by the highest levy the Trump administration imposed on any developed country. The 15% levy is inclusive of most-favored-nation rates and certain other existing duties, a similar arrangement to the European Union, Greer told reporters.

In exchange, Switzerland has committed to investing $200 billion in the US during President Donald Trump’s term, including $70 billion next year, in industries such as pharmaceuticals and gold smelting, according to Greer. Switzerland has also committed to buying more Boeing Co. commercial planes, Greer said.

“We’ve essentially reached a deal with Switzerland. So we’ll post details of that today on the White House website,” Greer said during a CNBC interview.

The agreement is the capstone of months of shuttle diplomacy by Swiss government officials and business figures, after the countries’ key industries, including watches, machinery and precision instruments, were punished by the crippling US tariff.

A baseline rate of 15% had been expected, Bloomberg reported earlier that both sides closed in on the number. Trump later confirmed that officials had been “working on a deal.”

Greer said that Switzerland is “going to send a lot of manufacturing here to the United States, pharmaceuticals, gold smelting, railway equipment. So we’re really excited about that deal and what it means for American manufacturing.”

The breakthrough ends a months-long dispute that began in August, when Trump stunned Bern by imposing the 39% tariff on Swiss exports, more than double the rate applied to the EU. The move, which the Trump administration justified as a response to what officials described as a $40 billion goods trade deficit, came as a surprise to Swiss officials who believed they had previously agreed on a deal with US counterparts.