Switzerland seeks trade deal with Trump without getting into EU bind
The Swiss cabinet last month approved its biggest trade policy overhaul in years with the EU, two months after the U.S. stunned Switzerland by announcing 31% tariffs - well above the 20% rate Washington set out for the 27-nation bloc.
That shock prompted a scramble by business leaders and officials to underline how much Switzerland invests in the United States and the tariff threat was suspended for a 90-day period ending July 9. Talks are continuing.
Nicolas Walder, a Greens member of the lower house of parliament's foreign policy committee, said Switzerland must insist on its commitment to multilateralism with the U.S.
"A deal should not interfere with any agreement that Switzerland has signed or wants to sign, and should specifically mention the bilateral agreement with the EU," said Walder, whose committee is regularly briefed on the trade talks.
The Swiss mandate for negotiating with the U.S. stipulates that relations with its other trade partners be upheld. Any U.S. deal must be compatible with Switzerland's future relations with the EU, a Swiss source familiar with the matter said.
Swiss officials and lawmakers believe that a 31% tariff can be averted, but say U.S. President Donald Trump's existing 10% baseline tariff looks likely to stay.
"Switzerland is negotiating in good faith with the U.S. government, aiming for a positive outcome," the Swiss Economy Ministry said in a statement in response to questions on the points made by Reuters in this article.
The EU trade agreement faces a lengthy approval process and is almost certain to be put to a national referendum under Switzerland's system of direct democracy.
Trump's unpredictable approach to trade policy has been a challenge for Switzerland, which abolished its own industrial tariffs last year and sets great store by adherence to rules.
Eager to offer Trump something, Switzerland is exploring granting concessions to the U.S., such as greater market access for produce like seafood and citrus fruits, the source said.
Home to pharmaceutical giants Roche and Novartis - both big U.S. investors - Switzerland also knows Washington has been investigating trade practices in the sector and does not want any deal to be muddied later by pharma tariffs, the source said.
"This is absolutely crucial," said Simon Michel, a federal lawmaker and CEO of medical technology company Ypsomed.
Jean-Philippe Kohl, deputy director of industry association Swissmem, said even if only a 10% tariff applies, the dollar's decline against the Swiss franc amid the trade uncertainty was already making exporters' goods dearer in the U.S.
And if the EU secured better tariff terms with Washington, that could put Swiss firms at a disadvantage.
"It's therefore important that the dialogue with the U.S. quickly lead to a positive outcome," he said.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Reuters
29 minutes ago
- Reuters
European shares subdued as investors brace for Trump's tariff deadline
July 7 (Reuters) - European shares were subdued on Monday, with investors on the lookout for any trade-related headlines in the countdown to U.S. President Donald Trump's tariff deadline. The pan-European STOXX 600 index (.STOXX), opens new tab was flat at 541.15 points, as of 0835 GMT. Other major regional indexes were mixed, with Germany's DAX (.GDAXI), opens new tab up 0.4%, while France's CAC 40 (.FCHI), opens new tab, Spain's IBEX (.IBEX), opens new tab, and the UK's FTSE 100 (.FTSE), opens new tab each fell 0.1%. President Trump said on Sunday, the U.S. is close to finalising several trade agreements in the coming days and will notify other countries of higher tariff rates by July 9. The new rates are set to take effect from August 1. He also said the U.S. will send letters to 12 countries on Monday, detailing the different tariff levels they will face on goods they export to the U.S. "Trade deals have taken years to the U.S. is trying to negotiate so many deals in three months. It will be surprising if they get proper long-lasting deals signed very quickly", said Andrew Lapping, Chief Investment Officer at Ranmore Fund Management. Meanwhile, Trump threatened an extra 10% tariff on countries aligning themselves with the "anti-American policies" of the BRICS group of developing nations. He added to the confusion by mentioning that some tariffs could reach up to 70% levels far higher than the 10%-50% range he announced in April. "Trump is in a teasing mood, hinting that more deals will be inked in the coming are bracing for another burst of volatility, as another cloud of unpredictability descends.", said Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets, Hargreaves Lansdown in a note. Meanwhile, a White House official said on Friday that U.S. trade talks with the European Union were ongoing, and there was optimism that an agreement could be reached in the near future. European energy (.SXEP), opens new tab stocks fell 1.6%, tracking lower oil prices —meanwhile, insurance (.SXIP), opens new tab stocks were up 0.8%. Among individual stocks, Shell fell 3% after the energy major trimmed its second-quarter gas, LNG output outlook and guided for weaker trading results in a quarterly update ahead of full results. Capgemini ( opens new tab fell 4.1% after the French IT services firm agreed to buy technology outsourcing company WNS (WNS.N), opens new tab for a cash payment of $3.3 billion. China's finance ministry said on Sunday it would restrict government purchases of medical devices from the EU that exceed 45 million yuan ($6.3 million) in value, in retaliation for Brussels' curbs last month. Carl Zeiss Meditec ( opens new tab and Merck Kgaa ( opens new tab fell 1.7% and 2.1%, respectively, following China's reciprocal curbs on EU medical devices.
Reuters
32 minutes ago
- Reuters
US SEC's guidance is first step toward rules governing crypto ETFs
July 7 (Reuters) - New U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission guidance on disclosure requirements for exchange-traded products tied to cryptocurrencies marked the first step toward approval of dozens of applications for ETFs linked to everything from Solana and XRP to President Donald Trump's eponymous meme coin. The guidance, issued last Tuesday, signaled a dramatic shift by Republican leadership in how the top U.S. markets regulator deals with the crypto sector. The SEC has launched a task force to draft new regulations, refocused its crypto enforcement team and paused or altogether walked away from high-profile enforcement cases that many thought the agency was winning. The 12-page document is the first part of the new landscape for crypto funds that SEC staff members are designing. Asset managers also anticipate guidance from the SEC's division of trading and markets on ways to streamline the application process, said people familiar with the discussions. This should accelerate the pace for new product debuts. "The SEC is moving forward on creating a framework for how they'd like to see all these crypto assets included in investment funds" to address the "explosion" in the number of ETFs now awaiting a regulatory verdict, said Sui Chung, CEO of crypto index provider CF Benchmarks. Industry participants said they saw few surprises so far. "The most interesting and important thing about this guidance is that it exists," said Matt Hougan, chief investment officer of Bitwise Asset Management, which has more than half a dozen crypto ETFs awaiting SEC approval. "It suggests that the SEC acknowledges that crypto ETPs are becoming part of the mainstream and so it's trying to lay down rules of the road to save both issuers and SEC staff time and hassle." The SEC guidance spells out that in order to be approved, issuers must clearly address, in "plain English", all factors that make crypto-based ETFs distinctive, such as custody arrangements and risks of the hyper-competitive landscape. The next document, however, is likely to prove more significant. According to several people familiar with the ongoing discussions, who could not speak publicly due to the confidentiality of those proceedings, the SEC staff is seeking to create a new listing template to replace the current need for exchanges to submit a special form each time they want to list a new crypto product. That form, known as a 19(b)4, asks for an exemption from current listing rules for the specific ETF. Eliminating that from the process could cut the time between filing and launch dates from as much as 240 days to only 75 days. "The SEC is looking for a general rule it can apply to all listings, and currently is going back and forth on precise wording with the exchanges," said a senior executive at one issuer, who added he expected that exchanges will submit that kind of general filing within "days or weeks." Officials at the Nasdaq Stock Market and Cboe declined to comment on these talks; the New York Stock Exchange did not respond to requests for comment. A spokesperson for the SEC also declined comment on the discussions. While ETFs tied to the spot prices of everything from coins like XRP, Polkadot, Dogecoin and the Trump meme coin await an SEC verdict, issuers expect the next batch of crypto products will be tied to Solana, the world's sixth-largest cryptocurrency. That likely will not happen until after the SEC has rolled out the second part of its guidance, pushing the launch date into early autumn, issuers said. Some asset managers are not waiting. Last week, REX Financial and Osprey Funds used a more indirect and complex approach to launch the first U.S. ETF to give investors exposure to Solana, the REX-Osprey Sol + Staking ETF (SSK.Z), opens new tab. In contrast to the half-dozen spot Solana ETFs awaiting approval, it invests in a separate entity that in turn will own both Solana and a non-U.S. Solana fund. That structure means REX can bypass the rules governing those commodity funds and leapfrog other issuers, as well as offering investors access to yield via the cryptocurrency "staking" mechanism. In staking, cryptocurrency holders volunteer to take part in validating transactions on the blockchain, checking that the ledger all adds up. In return, validators either receive a share of the transaction fees or newly created cryptocurrencies. "We do think the SEC is taking big steps forward in dealing with cryptocurrency, but it's still the SEC, and not everything has been codified yet," Greg King, CEO of REX Financial, told Reuters. King acknowledged he is trying to get a head start on what is expected to be a fiercely competitive race for market share on new Solana products. The new ETF pulled in $12 million of assets on its first day of trading on Wednesday, July 1, King said. "We'll probably do a spot Solana ETP too, once those rules are in place," he added. "There's no either/or in this situation."
Reuters
35 minutes ago
- Reuters
EU countries seek more cuts to deforestation rules, letter shows
BRUSSELS, July 7 (Reuters) - Most European Union countries have demanded further changes to the bloc's anti-deforestation law, saying some of its producers cannot be expected to meet its terms and face a competitive disadvantage, a letter seen by Reuters showed. From December, the deforestation law, a world first, will require operators placing goods including soy, beef and palm oil, onto the EU market to provide proof their products did not cause deforestation. Felling CO2-storing forests is a major cause of climate change. But despite worsening extreme weather, political will to impose strict emissions-cutting policies has ebbed, as governments worry about the financial costs. Brussels has already delayed its launch by a year and cut back reporting rules following criticism from trading partners, including the United States, as well as from EU countries. Of the EU's 27 member countries, agriculture ministers from 18 wrote to the Commission on Monday, demanding the EU rules are not applied to countries deemed to have a low risk of deforestation. They should stick to national measures instead, they said. "Excessive and redundant due diligence requirements should be removed in countries where agricultural expansion is not significantly reducing the forest area," the letter said. It was signed by Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and Sweden. The deforestation law also applies to EU exports, prompting the 18 countries to voice concern that European producers would relocate abroad to avoid the additional cost of complying with the rules. "The full traceability within the EU-market required for all commodities by the regulation will be extremely difficult, if not impossible for some of them," the letter added. The countries said Brussels should consider delaying the launch of the policy again, while it drafts proposals to simplify the rules further. A Commission spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The EU policy aims to end the 10% of global deforestation linked to EU consumption of imported goods.
