U.S. President Donald Trump this week secured five new trade deal frameworks to reduce U.S. costs of living, foster greater foreign investment, and address Washington’s trade deficits with other nations.
On Friday, the United States reached a dual trade deal with Switzerland and Liechtenstein that will lower tariffs from 39 and 37 percent, respectively, to 15 percent. The new rate, set to take effect within the next few weeks, is expected to offer much-needed relief to Bern, which received one of the highest U.S. duties in the world; Switzerland’s initial 39 percent levy was more than double the rate that Washington imposed on the European Union.
U.S. President Donald Trump this week secured five new trade deal frameworks to reduce U.S. costs of living, foster greater foreign investment, and address Washington’s trade deficits with other nations.
On Friday, the United States reached a dual trade deal with Switzerland and Liechtenstein that will lower tariffs from 39 and 37 percent, respectively, to 15 percent. The new rate, set to take effect within the next few weeks, is expected to offer much-needed relief to Bern, which received one of the highest U.S. duties in the world; Switzerland’s initial 39 percent levy was more than double the rate that Washington imposed on the European Union.
Trump justified his particularly high tariffs on Switzerland by pointing to the nation’s nearly $40 billion goods trade surplus with the United States in 2024. To address this, Bern committed on Friday to invest $200 billion during Trump’s second term in key U.S. industries such as pharmaceuticals and gold smelting. Of that, $70 billion is set to be invested next year.
That deal came one day after Washington struck similar frameworks with four Latin American nations: Argentina, Ecuador, Guatemala, and El Salvador. These deals will keep overall U.S. tariffs of 10 percent on Argentina, Guatemala, and El Salvador and 15 percent on Ecuador, but they will remove U.S. duties on some select goods, such as bananas and coffee.
U.S. imports of Argentine beef, which originally faced a 10 percent tariff, are expected to now be exempted, though the United States likely won’t change its quota to expand the amount of Argentine beef entering the country. The beef exception highlights Trump’s friendly relationship with far-right Argentine President Javier Milei, whose country Trump gave a $40 billion bailout to despite anger from his fellow Republicans.
Read more in today’s World Brief: Trump Secures New Trade Deal Frameworks in Europe and Latin America.
This post is part of FP’s ongoing coverage of the Trump administration. Follow along here.
