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By:
BBC
- November 14, 2025 12:28
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Swiss ministers are in Washington for talks aimed at reducing the high 39% tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump on Swiss exports to the US - the highest rate in Europe.
Swiss President Karin Keller-Sutter's initial efforts to persuade Trump fell on deaf ears. But a visit on November 4 by business leaders appears to have changed her mind.
A senior administration official told reporters on Thursday that talks between the US and Swiss ministers were "very positive" and "very focused," adding that they are "very aware" of their trade deficit with the US and are ready to address it.
For months, the Swiss have been trying to lower this rate, which has hit the Swiss economy hard.
Trump's response to the Swiss president's effort was that she "was a good woman, but she didn't want to listen."
But the private business initiative last week took a less conventional approach.
Swiss industry bosses went to the Oval Office on November 4 with gifts, including a gold Rolex watch and a piece of gold specially engraved for him by the Swiss gold refining company MKS.
Since this week, Trump has stated that a deal to reduce tariffs is being worked on, but added that he does not have a number on how much he will reduce them.
Some business figures, especially those who trade in luxury goods, gold or other commodities, already had contacts in Trump's circle.
In September, Trump appeared at the US Open tennis final in the Rolex VIP area led by the company's chief executive, Jean-Frederic Dufour.
The president, apparently realizing what was happening, asked if Dufour would have been there if he had not imposed such high tariffs on Switzerland.
Last week, Dufour met with Trump again, this time in the Oval Office, along with other business leaders, including Johann Rupert of luxury goods company Richemont and Marwan Shakarchi of MKS.
It's pretty normal these days for every leader who goes to the Oval Office to bring a gift.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer brought an invitation from King Charles for a state visit. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz brought a framed copy of the birth certificate of Trump's German grandfather.
The companies have not responded to requests for confirmation of the gifts.
But a few days after the meeting, Trump was photographed in the Oval Office wearing what clearly appeared to be a Rolex “Datejust” watch, produced by the company as a collector’s item, and worth tens of thousands of dollars.
The American president receives thousands of gifts each year, and they then become the property of the United States, deposited in the National Archives, and recorded annually by the State Department.
They are later transferred to a presidential library. Some gifts can be kept, but presidents must pay federal taxes unless the gifts come from a close relative.
In 1969, President Richard Nixon delicately declined a Swiss Omega watch as a gift.
Whatever happens with the Swiss gifts, Trump's stance on Switzerland appears to be softening, telling reporters that he is working on something "to help Switzerland."
Swiss Economy Minister Guy Parmelin and chief trade negotiator Helene Budliger Artieda, who traveled to Washington on Wednesday, are more hopeful than they have been in months, amid suggestions that the 39% tariff could be reduced to 15% - the same as that of Switzerland's EU neighbors.
In return, promises from Swiss pharmaceutical giants to build more manufacturing plants in the US are already on the table. It is also reported that Swiss International Airlines, whose planes are mainly from Airbus, could switch to Boeing.
But will that be enough? Swiss industry is waiting with bated breath. The tariffs are already having an impact, with a number of Swiss companies warning that they will be forced to lay off workers if nothing changes.
Switzerland also has a very influential figure on whom it can rely.
FIFA President Gianni Infantino, a longtime friend of Trump, has reportedly been urged by some Swiss parliamentarians to try to change the president's mind.
As part of preparations for next year's World Cup in the US, Canada and Mexico, Infantino visited the Oval Office in August holding the trophy.
As cameras rolled, he handed it to Trump, telling him he was “a winner.” The president responded by asking, “Can I keep it? It’s a beautiful piece of gold.”
Infantino has also announced a new FIFA World Peace Prize, which will be announced in Washington on December 5.
It is not yet known who might receive it.