‘We didn’t sell our souls to the devil’ Swiss defends US trade deal

Switzerland’s fledgling trade deal with the United States has divided opinion, with government and business leaders hailing the country’s “reopening,” while critics warn it amounts to a sellout to the White House.

The trade deal announced on Friday lowered Swiss export duties to the United States from 39% to 15% and committed Swiss companies to investing $200 billion in the United States, including commitments to expand manufacturing in the United States.

Switzerland launched a charm offensive ahead of the deal, sending a group of top Swiss CEOs, including those from luxury goods giant Rolex and Switzerland. Richemont — Delivered gifts to US President Donald Trump in early November, including a gold Rolex watch and specially engraved gold bars.

Swiss lobbying helped secure a new framework trade agreement with the United States, which drew criticism over the weekend.

The Green Party, for example, has called the deal a “surrender agreement” and leader Lisa Mazzone reportedly said that “Switzerland’s economic elite and the Bundestag have capitulated to Donald Trump” and that Swiss consumers and farmers are likely to pay the price.

The party also questioned the involvement of company executives, saying the government bought the deal through “dubious methods and gifts of money.”

Swiss Economy Minister Guy Palmerin rejected criticism that the deal amounted to capitulation to President Trump and also defended his use of business leaders to persuade the White House.

“We have not sold our souls to the devil,” Parmelin said in an interview with Tagesandzeiger newspaper this weekend, adding that he was “satisfied” with the agreement, suggesting there was still room for adjustments and improvements.

“I would be proud to return to zero percent tariffs. It’s been a long road, but the result is the best we can achieve. Above all, it provides a starting point for the next round of negotiations,” he told the paper in comments translated by Google.

Parmelin said the business executives who came to Washington were there only to “explain their position” and explain how the tariffs are impacting trade. However, he acknowledged that the visit had had a positive impact on the negotiations.

“But it’s true. They have influence because they have a lot of connections in the United States, not just the Trump family. Some people are friends with Trump because we play golf together. I don’t play golf. That might be my handicap, but that’s life,” Parmelin said.

Swiss industry leaders are certainly relieved to have reached a framework agreement, but implementation will take time. Question marks remain over some details, including whether Switzerland will have to accept U.S. meat imports, such as chlorinated chicken and hormone-treated beef, which have been controversial in Europe, as part of the bilateral duty-free tariff framework agreed in principle.

The framework agreement is also non-binding and there will be further consultations to finalize the details within the agreement, which will ultimately require approval by the Swiss parliament and possibly a referendum.

The United States was optimistic about the deal on Friday, with U.S. Trade Representative Jamison Greer telling CNBC that Switzerland’s $200 billion investment in the United States would boost the domestic economy.

“They’re going to bring a lot of manufacturing from here to the United States, including pharmaceuticals, gold refining, and railroad equipment, so we’re very excited about this deal and what it means for American manufacturing.”

Swiss manufacturers are also relieved by the agreement, said Stefan Bruppbacher, CEO of Swissmem, an association representing the mechanical and electrical engineering industry. Machinery exporters have been hit even harder, with exports to the U.S. down 15% since August, he said.

“It’s a huge relief for our members, because first of all, going from 39% to 15% puts us on par with our main competitors in Europe and Japan. So that’s why we’ve suffered so much in the last three months, with our exports to the U.S. languishing between 15% and 40%,” he told CNBC’s “Europe Early Edition.”

“This 15% tariff puts us on par with our main competitors. This is the basis on which we can start again,” he said.

Preliminary data released by the Swiss Economy Ministry on Monday showed the economy contracted by 0.5% in the third quarter of 2025. The ministry said the contraction was “due to a sharp decline in value added in the chemical and pharmaceutical sector, with the industry as a whole recording negative growth.”

UBS economist Alessandro Bee said in an analysis on Monday that despite the framework agreement between the U.S. and Switzerland, the Swiss economy’s GDP growth rate is around 1% in 2026 in UBS’s base case, which is “significantly lower than the average growth rate of 1.9% over the past 15 years.”

“Growth should be supported by the domestic economy, but we don’t expect a significant stimulus from foreign trade,” Bee said, warning that despite trade tariff cuts, “tariffs on exports to the US remain high and growth in exports to the US is likely to slow significantly compared to last year.”

Bee pointed out that about half of Switzerland’s exports to the United States come from the pharmaceutical industry, which is not affected by the 39% tariff, and said the relocation of some drug manufacturing to the United States, which some Swiss pharmaceutical companies have warned, could further damage the economy.

“Nevertheless, Swiss pharmaceutical companies have indicated that they are willing to move production for the US market to the United States, and this new agreement is unlikely to change these plans. We expect the transfer of pharmaceutical production to weigh on Swiss growth in the medium term.”