ZURICH (Reuters) -Talks over trade between the Swiss government and the Trump administration will hopefully yield a result by the beginning of July, Swiss Economy Minister Guy Parmelin said on Tuesday.
Switzerland was stunned to be saddled with steeper tariffs than its neighbours in the European Union when U.S. President Donald Trump early last month unveiled a raft of proposed import duties on U.S. trading partners.
Since accelerating diplomatic efforts to avert the tariffs, Switzerland and its business leaders have managed to position the country among a group of 15 nations on a fast-track list towards brokering agreement with Washington.
Parmelin, speaking at an event in Zurich, said Switzerland needed to diversify its trade relations and that it was important not to depend too much on one trading partner.
Parmelin said the EU, the United States and China were his country’s most important trade partners and the government was working to improve access to other economies.
The United States is Switzerland’s single biggest export market.
(Reporting by Ariane LuthiEditing by Dave Graham)