Swiss seize window of opportunity on Trump tariffs
Geneva – Switzerland will once again Friday try to talk its way out of punitive tariffs on its exports to the United States, which would have serious ramifications for Swiss jobs and businesses.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and China's Vice Premier He Lifeng are meeting in Geneva in an attempt to cool the trade war between the world's two biggest economies.
That has given the Swiss another chance to twist Washington's arm over the global wave of tariffs unleashed by US President Donald Trump on April 2, and comes a day after Britain reached a deal with the United States avoiding the worst of the punitive levies.
Swiss President Karin Keller-Sutter, who is also the country's finance minister, and Economy Minister Guy Parmelin are set to meet Bessent and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer at a top hotel in Geneva.
Few details have been made public about the talks, but the Swiss were also set to meet Vice Premier He and were due to hold a press conference later on Friday.
Keller-Sutter and Parmelin already met Bessent and Greer in Washington late last month in a bid to negotiate lower tariffs.
– Watchmakers on borrowed time? –
Given the size of Switzerland's trade surplus — exporting more to the United States than it imports from it — the Trump administration has threatened to impose a 31 percent levy on Swiss exports to the United States.
This would be catastrophic for major sectors of Switzerland's economy, such as manufacturing and watchmaking.
For now, Washington is imposing a 10 percent levy on goods coming from Switzerland.
In 2024, the total value of Switzerland's goods exports to the United States was expected to reach 52.65 billion Swiss francs ($63.7 billion), with pharmaceutical products being the largest export.
Imports of goods from the United States were valued at 14.13 billion francs, according to Switzerland's Federal Office for Customs and Border Security.
Switzerland is the sixth-largest foreign investor in the United States, and ranks first in research and development, with pharmaceuticals being a key sector.
The United States is Switzerland's biggest trading partner after the European Union.
– Nespresso and big pharma –
There may be only so far that Keller-Sutter can get Washington to bend.
US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said Thursday that Washington was likely to impose tariffs of more than 10 percent on trading partners with which it has a trade deficit.
'The 10 percent baseline is for those countries that have (a) balanced budget with us, that are the best,' Lutnick told CNBC television. 'Those who had trade deficits are going to have a higher tariff.'
The potential repercussions of the Trump tariffs on Switzerland are still difficult to quantify.
When publishing its quarterly sales figures, food giant Nestle indicated that its Swiss-made Nespresso coffee pods were likely to be affected.
Pharmaceuticals were not targeted in the tariffs announced in early April — though the Trump administration has blown hot and cold on such products since then.
Faced with the uncertainties, two Swiss heavyweights in the sector took their own initiative.
Novartis announced in mid-April that it was increasing its investments in the United States by $23 billion over five years, with Roche announcing shortly afterwards that it likewise planned to invest $50 billion over five years.
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On May 13, 2025, during his visit to Saudi Arabia, U.S. President Donald Trump announced that he would be "ordering the cessation of sanctions on Syria" that had been in effect since 1979, "in order to give them a chance at greatness."[1] The next day, May 14, Trump met in Riyadh with Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa, in the first meeting of an American and Syrian president in 25 years, signifying the beginning of renewed diplomatic relations between the two countries. In accordance with Trump's announcement, on May 23 U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke about lifting the sanctions included in the Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act of 2019,[2] for a 180-day waiver of mandatory sanctions of the act to allow "stability-driving investments and [to] advance Syria's recovery and reconstruction efforts."[3] The same day, the U.S. Treasury Department issued immediate sanctions relief for Syria, and that it "also authorizes all transactions with the new Government of Syria, and with certain blocked persons"[4] – among them Al-Sharaa, who prior to seizing control of the country was known as Abu Muhammad Al-Joulani and headed Hay'at Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS), an organization designated terrorist by a number of countries.[5] The U.S. decision to lift the sanctions on Syria came about thanks largely to Saudi Arabia, as Trump himself stated in his announcement: "Oh, what I do for the [Saudi] Crown Prince [Mohammed bin Salman]."[6] Later, he said that he had decided on the move after talks with bin Salman and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.[7] It should be noted that Trump had met with Al-Sharaa in the presence of bin Salman and with the online participation of Erdogan. Trump meets with Al-Sharaa in Riyadh (Source: May 14, 2025) Following the December 8, 2024 fall of the Bashar Al-Assad regime in Syria, Saudi Arabia and Turkey, along with Qatar, have worked towards getting the U.S. to lift its sanctions on Syria. This is on the grounds that their lifting will allow the country to rebuild – an enterprise in which all three will necessarily be involved, particularly Qatar and Turkey, which sponsored Al-Sharaa even before the removal of the Assad regime. The American move to lift the sanctions came as a surprise in the region, and even in the U.S. administration.[8] Since HTS's takeover of Syria, and despite the significant progress in Syria-U.S. relations, including with several direct Syria-U.S. meetings, it was thought that the American administration would proceed with caution vis-à-vis Syria, and would make decisions in accordance with the new regime's actions on the ground. This is particularly true in light of HTS's jihadi history under Al-Sharaa, and its U.S. designation as a terrorist organization until its recent disbandment.[9] In March 2025, the Trump administration gave Syria a document with eight demands, and American officials have reiterated, including in the days prior to Trump's announcement on lifting the sanctions, that any decision on lifting the sanctions and normalizing relations with Syria would be conditional on the fulfillment of these demands.[10] Furthermore, the Al-Sharaa government had already made considerable progress in tackling these demands prior to the announcement, and the sanctions were lifted before they were fully met.[11] It should be noted that in reports since March, and also in official U.S. statements, descriptions of the demands, and how many there are, vary, so it is not completely clear what is required of the Al-Sharaa government. One of the U.S.'s main demands is that Syria remove foreign jihad fighters from senior positions in the Syrian army, and even expel them from the country. To date, however, the Syrian government has been dragging its feet on this issue, and has already appointed some of them to command positions in the army – although, according to a number of reports, it has agreed to freeze such new appointments. At the same time, in an attempt to calm fears in both the region and in the West about these fighters, the Al-Sharaa government has announced several times that they will not pose any threat to any other country, and Syria is at the same time examining the solution of giving them Syrian citizenship. Another American demand, that can be considered only a recommendation, is strengthening relations with Israel and joining the Abraham Accords. Against this backdrop, it was reported that a round of direct and indirect Syria-Israel talks was held recently. The U.S. is trying to present Syrian openness to peace with Israel, but the Al-Sharaa government is downplaying the issue and it appears that at this stage it will act to quiet tensions vis-à-vis Israel but without normalizing relations with it. Billboard in Syria expressing thanks to President Trump and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for lifting the sanctions ( May 14, 2025) This report will review the conditions set by the U.S. for Syria in exchange for lifting the sanctions, the attempt to advance a Syria-Israel calm, and the difficulties encountered by the Syrian regime in meeting the U.S. demands to remove foreign jihad fighters affiliated with it from senior positions and to expel them from the country. The Lack Of Clarity vis-à-vis The Conditions Set By The U.S. For Lifting The Sanctions On Syria President Trump's announcement of the lifting of the sanctions on Syria contradicted previous American announcements and moves[12] that reflected a cautious approach to the Al-Sharaa government and the conditioning of the advancement of this relationship, including the lifting of sanctions, on the execution of confidence-building measures. At the March 17, 2025 Brussels IX Conference on "Standing With Syria: Meeting The Needs For A Successful Transition," with key regional and international partners together with the Syrian Arab Republic,[13] the U.S. gave the Syrian government eight demands to be met, in exchange for which the U.S. could ease the sanctions on Syria. The demands as published by the Saudi magazine Al-Majala[14] indicate that the Al-Sharaa government had already begun to move ahead on most of them, as part of its attempts to get the sanctions removed. There were even reports about American satisfaction with Syria's handling of the following demands: Allowing access to all Syrian chemical weapons sites and plans Assuming responsibility for detention centers holding ISIS prisoners and camps in which their families are held in northeast Syria, controlled by the Syrian Democratic Forces, comprising largely Kurds supported by the U.S. Cooperating with the international coalition against ISIS led by the U.S. Assisting the USA "in locating and returning USA citizens or their remains. The families of Austin Tice, Majd Kamalmaz, and Kayla Mueller must have closure."[15] Another U.S. demand met by the Al-Sharaa government was a ban on the activity of Palestinian factions in the country, and expulsion of their members. The Syrian government took steps against the Palestinian factions that were loyal to the Assad regime, including arresting their operatives, taking over their commands, and banning them from conducting military activity but not humanitarian activity.[16] Against this backdrop, it was reported that most of the leaders of these factions had left Syria.[17] With regard to the demand to prevent Iran from situating itself in Syria and to classify its Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) and Hizbullah as terror organizations, the Al-Sharaa government declared several times that Iran and Hizbullah have no remaining presence in Syria[18] and that it has no objections in principle to designating them both as terror organizations. The two remaining demands are more problematic for the Syrian government. The first is allowing the U.S. to carry out attacks in Syria against any element that it considers a threat to U.S. national security; however, this is a matter of violation of Syrian sovereignty. The Al-Sharaa government noted that there is a need to arrive at mutual understandings on this.[19] The second is to refrain from appointing foreign fighters to senior command roles, and, according to some reports, also to expel them from the country.[20] This is complicated for the Al-Sharaa government, which owes these fighters a debt of gratitude for the help they gave it in its war against the Assad regime. It should be emphasized that Trump's announcement of a "cessation" of the sanctions, and its aftermath, is notable for the lack of uniformity in announcements by American elements regarding the content and number of the administration's' demands.[21] The easing of the sanctions prior to the Al-Sharaa government's meeting of the demands also raised the question of whether the American "demands" had been downgraded to "recommendations." This was reflected in White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt's statement that in his meeting with Al-Shara, President Trump had "urged" Al-Sharaa to carry out some actions, but had not "demanded" this.[22] Likewise, Michael "Mitch" Mitchell, the Dubai Hub Deputy Director and Arabic Language Spokesperson Office of International Media Engagement in the State Department's Office of International Media Engagement, told Al-Hurrah on May 16 that the U.S. had received no guarantees from the Al-Sharaa government that it would meet these demands, and that the U.S. had not even requested such a guarantee.[23] In an appearance on May 19 on the Syrian Al-Ikhbaria TV channel, which is affiliated with the Al-Sharaa government, he only spoke about the U.S.'s "preferences" in Syria.[24] At the same time, this does not appear to mean that the U.S. has withdrawn its demands. This was also the assessment of many Syrian writers. Thus, Syrian writer Ali Qassem stated, "The decision [to lift the sanctions] was not just a prize for Syria, but an agreement that is conditional upon demands."[25] Likewise, Syrian writer Rateb Sh'abu wrote, "We will pay the price for [the lifting of the sanctions], since in the political world no one hands out gifts, charity, or profits for free to others."[26] Ahmed Mazher Saado, who writes for a Syrian newspaper, even assessed that "Uncle Sam may continue to send more American, and necessarily also Israeli, demands and conditions, so that the path and the steps to lift the sanctions will remain valid and will be carried out without legal or political disruption."[27] Syrians celebrate the lifting of the sanctions: "Thank you Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Turkey" (Source: May 13, 2025) Syrian President Al-Sharaa: Indirect Contacts With Israel, Reports Of Direct Israel-Syria Meetings Amid the lack of clarity regarding the content and number of the demands the U.S. submitted to the Syrian government, one U.S. demand – or condition – stands out as particularly unclear: strengthening Syria's relations with Israel and joining the Abraham Accords for normalizing relations with it, under U.S. auspices. President Trump himself noted, "I told him [Al-Sharaa], 'I hope you're going to join when it's straightened out.' He said, 'Yes.'" Trump added, however, "But they have a lot of work to do [yet]."[28] The relationship with Israel is a sensitive issue for the new Syrian regime. As Al-Sharaa seized power in Syria, Israel expanded its attacks inside the country and destroyed most of the Syrian army's military infrastructure. Its forces also took control of the buffer zone in southern Syria and began to expand it, and Israel also announced that it would protect the Syrian Druze from the Al-Sharaa government. This move was seen in Syria as an attempt to divide the country.[29] Nevertheless, with the U.S.'s encouragement, there have been reports of indirect and even direct contacts between the two sides. It was reported that indirect Syria-Israel talks on security and intelligence affairs, with UAE mediation, began following Al-Sharaa's April 13, 2025 UAE visit.[30] The Israeli daily Haaretz reported on direct Syria-Israel contacts, with a Syrian delegation visiting Israel in late April.[31] In addition, there were reports of Syria-Israel talks in Azerbaijan and Jordan, as well as direct security meetings between the sides in the border area between the two countries, including in territory under Israeli control.[32] During his May 7 visit to France, Al-Sharaa confirmed that "indirect negotiations are underway [with Israel] via mediators in order to calm the situation and prevent a slide into loss of control among the sides."[33] In this context, there was a noticeable gap between the U.S.'s optimistic depiction of Syria-Israel relations and how they were downplayed by the Al-Sharaa government. One striking example of this was the diverse coverage of statements by U.S. Secretary of State Rubio on May 15, following his Turkey meeting with his Turkish and Syrian counterparts. On its website, the U.S. State Department said that Rubio had "welcomed the Syrian government's calls for peace with Israel,"[34] and said that the Syrians had "expressed an interest in being at peace with all of their neighbors, including Israel."[35] In contrast, the official Syrian news agency SANA quoted Rubio as saying that "the Syrian government wants peace with all its neighbors" but did not mention Israel by name.[36] Furthermore, in her May 14 post on X following President Trump's meeting with Al-Sharaa, White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt had written that Trump had "urged" Al-Sharaa to "sign onto the Abraham Accords with Israel" and that "President Al-Sharaa affirmed his commitment to the 1974 disengagement with Israel."[37] However, the Syrian Foreign Ministry's announcement of the meeting did not mention relations with Israel at all.[38] In its commentary, the UAE daily Al-Arab clarified that should Al-Sharaa accept Trump's offer to join the Abraham Accords, he would receive American recognition and a full lifting of the sanctions on Syria. At the same time, however, he would risk losing his legitimacy among a large part of the Syrian public, especially among the Syrian forces, who see Israel as an enemy and normalization with it as a betrayal. According to the daily's assessment, Al-Sharaa will choose a middle path of not explicitly rejecting Trump's proposal but also not fully accepting it.[39] Trump's support for Al-Sharaa also impacted Israel, which cut back on its attacks in Syria in May and softened its tone vis-à-vis the Syrian government. As part of this, on May 23 a senior Israeli official told Al-Arabiya TV that Syria was an important country and that its joining the Abraham Accords would change the situation in the region. He added that meetings between Israeli and Syrian government representatives under Turkey's auspices were positive and that the Syrian government had made gestures towards Israel which would be responding in kind.[40] These meetings appear to have taken place in Azerbaijan. The U.S. frees Syria from the sanctions (Source:Al-Quds Al-Arabi, London, May 16, 2025 ) Demand To Expel Foreign Jihad Fighters From Syria; Al-Sharaa: They Will Not Threaten Any Country The presence in Syria of jihadi HTS foreign fighters greatly concerns the U.S. and the West in general, as well as the Arab countries. In Syria too there is concern, because of the threat they pose to the country's stability[41] and the possibility that they will use Syria as a base for jihadi operations against other countries, especially since some of them are wanted in their home countries. There are no official figures on these fighters, but estimates indicate that they number several thousand. Many are Uyghurs and Chechens, along with Jordanians, Egyptians, Tunisians, Arabs from the Gulf states, Europeans, and others.[42] The U.S.'s demand regarding these fighters poses a complicated challenge for the Al-Sharaa government, since it esteems the fighters for joining HTS during the years of war in Syria and for their assistance to the group in the campaign that brought down the Assad regime. In late December 2024, the Syrian government even promoted six of them as officers and appointed several to other senior military positions.[43] The Syrians appear to be approaching this issue by moving slowly on it. In its response to the U.S. on the matter of dealing with the eight American demands, the Syrians said that the foreign fighters issue "requires a broader consultative session."[44] Although they announced that promoting more foreign officers had been suspended, after six were previously promoted, they did not say whether the six had been demoted nor what, if any, steps would be taken in this regard.[45] In April 2025, Al-Sharaa told The New York Times that his government would consider giving Syrian citizenship for foreign fighters who had lived in Syria for many years and "who have stuck beside the revolution."[46] In an attempt to calm fears regarding these fighters, Al-Sharaa stressed on several occasions that they would not be allowed to use Syrian territory to threaten other countries. For example, at a press conference with French President Emmanuel Macron during his May 7 Paris visit, Al-Sharaa clarified: "We have emphasized to all the countries in the world that these fighters are committed to Syrian law and will pose no threat to any country."[47] Beyond that, there is not much information about the Syrian government's handling of the issue of foreign fighters. According to the UAE daily Al-Arab, the Al-Shara government has frozen the activity of important military commanders who are foreign, and it is expected that eventually, when the time is right, the foreign fighters will be sent back to their home countries.[48] The Qatari daily Al-Quds Al-Arabi reported that the Syrian government has asked several foreign fighters not to appear on social media in military uniform or to say that they are soldiers in the Syrian army.[49] Official U.S. statements that followed President Trump's decision to lift sanctions show some indication of Syrian progress in handling this matter, although what exactly is being done is not known for sure. Although Syrian Foreign Minister As'ad Al-Shibani met with senior U.S. officials in New York on April 29, and it was reported that he was told by the U.S. that Syria's measures on the issue of foreign fighters were insufficient.[50] U.S. Secretary of State Rubio struck a more positive tone when he said during his visit to Turkey on May 15 that the Syrian government "has expressed interest in driving out foreign fighters and terrorists."[51] In addition, Trump's special envoy to Syria Thomas Barrack, after meeting with Al-Sharaa, commended, on May 24, the Syrian president's steps taken regarding foreign fighters.[52] On June 2, Reuters reported that the Al-Sharaa government intended to integrate 3,500 foreign fighters into the Syrian army, and Barrack confirmed that there were understandings with the U.S. on this matter.[53] * O. Peri is a Research Fellow at MEMRI.
