The US tariff surges to 39%, Switzerland's internal blame game: President, pharmaceutical industry, who is to blame?

According to China Central Television News, US President Trump recently signed an executive order determining the "reciprocal tariff" rates for several countries and regions, with a tariff of 39% imposed on Switzerland, impacting multiple industries such as Swiss watchmaking.

Several days have passed, and still in a state of national shock, Switzerland has begun "internal accountability", from Swiss Federal President Keller-Zueter to the pharmaceutical industry, trying to find out who angered Trump, leading to the breakdown of negotiations and causing Switzerland to "bear" a 39% tariff. Keller-Zueter has been severely criticized for overestimating the possibility of reaching an agreement with the Trump administration. Other critics accuse the Swiss pharmaceutical industry of provoking Trump's anger.

A former Swiss diplomat described the current situation of internal conflict in Switzerland as "knives out".

Karl Gschwend, a Swiss person who used to frequently deal with American clients, said helplessly: "Now, if necessary, I don't want to cooperate with Americans. Well, maybe after three and a half years, Trump will be gone."

Keller-Zueter received the most intense criticism for misjudging the US position. Several insiders revealed that Keller-Zueter had a "disastrous" phone call with Trump on the night of July 31, which ended three months and hundreds of hours of negotiations.

Insiders said that Swiss officials mistakenly believed that their negotiations with the US were progressing smoothly, and they expected to reach an agreement similar to that with the UK, with a tariff of 10%. In April this year, Switzerland also announced an investment of nearly $15 billion in the US to try to reach an agreement first. Keller-Zueter also confidently publicly stated that she had successfully established contact with Trump. Two sources said that confident Switzerland was ready to accept a 10% tax rate, and the federal government approved negotiations with a 10% tariff as the bottom line on July 4th.

But in the phone call on July 31, Trump only cared about one thing: Switzerland's $39 billion trade deficit with the US, and what else this "very wealthy" country could offer.

Original text: https://www.toutiao.com/article/1839511015585927/

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