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Customs duties: Lufthansa ready to fly to the aid of Switzerland
The German company, which holds Swiss, would plan to process its purchases from Boeing via Switzerland to reduce our trade deficit with the USA.
Lufthansa, Swiss’s parent company, has every interest in the Swiss company.
IMAGOSince Donald Trump’s decision to impose customs duties of 39% on Swiss products, there would be a “creative chaos” at the State Secretariat for the Economy. Indeed, a host of business owners would have offered him their help, according to the “Tages-Anzeiger” on Wednesday. Among the proposals, that of the Lufthansa group.
The German airline, which has Swiss, would have submitted to the Federal Council an idea of “creative accounting”. She would indeed offer to buy her next Boeing via Switzerland. The stake is enormous. Because Lufthansa plans to acquire some 100 American planes for the next seven years for almost 21 billion francs.
Reduce trade balance
Lufthansa normally buys its planes through leasing companies established in countries with low taxation such as Ireland or Malta which then praise them to the groups of the group. But if the company shops via Switzerland, our 40 billion trade deficit towards the USA would be greatly reduced. Which could then be interpreted as a success by Donald Trump.
If Lufthansa is helping to help Switzerland, it is not for the beautiful eyes of Karin Keller-Sutter. What interests him is Swiss’s prosperity, the only company in the group to have made a profit in the first half this year. But it is also very dependent on the American market, recalls the tagi. The newspaper also specifies that the idea of treatment via Switzerland was already under study before the announcement of customs duties.
Asked, the Seco did not comment on this “deal”. Swiss said his boss had discussed in the United States “the framework conditions for imports of planes and possible options-for Lufthansa, Swiss, as well as the United States and American companies”.
Recall that Bern, would rather plan to buy American weapons to reduce taxes, said our Minister of Defense, Martin Pfister on Sunday.
Nick Hayek wants to tax her gold
Another idea to settle our dispute with the USA emanated this Wednesday from the boss of the Swatch Group, Nick Hayek. Calls him, in the “Blick”, to go to the offensive by imposing customs duties of 39% in the United States on gold. This while Donald Trump has decided to remove these taxes for Switzerland. This is for a simple reason, according to Nick Hayek: “It’s because it would hurt him very much. So that’s where we have to hit. It’s his Achilles heel. ” Switzerland, he believes, must act in a more strategic way. “Yes, Trump would get angry. But whatever. We would then have a better position and could negotiate. ”