President Donald Trump's trade war has fractured America's relationship with much of the world, including historic trading partners like Switzerland.
In July, Trump imposed 39 percent tariffs on Switzerland—more than double the 15 percent rate to which its European Union neighbors are subjected—marking a sharp departure from the American-Swiss trading relationship. The tariffs went into effect last week on August 7. The average tariff rate that the U.S. subjected Swiss imports to was 2.21 percent in 2022 (the most recent year for which data are available), according to the World Bank. Switzerland's average tariff rate on American goods was even lower: a mere 0.52 percent. In January 2024, Switzerland abolished all industrial tariffs, resulting in 99.3 percent of American goods entering the country tariff-free, according to Switzerland's State Secretariat for Economic Affairs.
Despite Switzerland's nearly completely laissez faire trading relationship with the U.S., Trump complained of a $41 billion deficit with Switzerland during an August 5 interview on CNBC's Squawk Box. (According to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, the American-Swiss goods deficit in 2024 was not quite that high: $38.3 billion.) However, this figure excludes trade of services between the two countries, which accounted for a trade surplus of $29.7 billion in favor of America. The total trade deficit, then, was approximately $8.6 billion, or 21 percent of Trump's inflated claim.
