Keystone-SDA
Donald Trump’s decision to impose customs duties of 39% on Switzerland arouses dismay in the Grand Chasseral region (BE). It weighs heavy threats on SMEs strongly oriented towards export, especially watchmaking.
(Keystone-ATS) “It is dismay that prevails in the face of abstruse rates that must be castigated and deplore,” said the director of the Grand Chasseral Patrick Linder Public Economy Chamber on Friday. Questioned by Keystone-ATS, he believes that it is also the failure of Swiss diplomacy in negotiations with the United States.
“Trump’s policy generates a harmful constellation for Swiss industrial companies with indirect effects.” This increase in customs taxes indeed impacts not only SMEs that sell components in the United States, but also those that sell them to international companies that then market them on the American market.
The decision on customs duties constitutes an abandonment of the principles which govern international trade, according to Patrick Linder which denounces a gesture which he describes as unilateral, protectionist and aggressive.
The director of the Grand Chasseral Public Economy Chamber interprets the decision on customs duties as a brand of hostility towards our prosperity model. He therefore calls on the Federal Council to continue negotiations.
