Swiss President's Hasty Trip to US Fails to Avert 39% Tariff on Exports

She did not meet Trump, and US officials rejected 10% tariff rate she sought

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WASHINGTON/ZURICH - Swiss President Karin Keller-Sutter left Washington empty-handed on Aug 6 after a hastily arranged trip to avert a crippling 39 per cent tariff on the country's exports to the United States, its biggest market, three sources familiar with the matter said.

Ms Keller-Sutter said she had a "very good meeting" with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, but one of the sources said she did not meet President Donald Trump or any of his top trade officials.

The Swiss President had been seeking a tariff rate of 10 per cent, which US officials rejected, the source said, adding that most countries are facing much higher tariff rates and reducing the US trade deficit remained Mr Trump's goal.

Washington is potentially seeking more energy and defence exports to Switzerland, according to a Swiss source familiar with the discussions. In return, the Swiss are looking for lower duties on goods sold to the US, a leading buyer of Swiss watches, machinery and chocolate.

Mr Trump announced a tariff rate of 31 per cent for Switzerland in April as part of a broad push to reorder global trade, but increased the threatened tariff to 39 per cent last week.

"We had a very good meeting today. We had a very friendly and open exchange," Ms Keller-Sutter told reporters after the meeting at the State Department in Washington. She did not answer a question about what further offers Switzerland would make.

The higher tariff took effect on Aug 7.