GENEVA, Nov 14 (KUNA) -- Switzerland announced on Friday that it has reached a "non-binding declaration of intent" with the United States to reduce the additional tariffs imposed by Washington on Swiss imports to a maximum of 15 percent.
In a statement issued in Bern, the Swiss government said that the announcement made today by the United States comes as a result of intensive discussions between the two sides aiming to decrease the bilateral US trade deficit in goods.
According to the statement, Switzerland has committed to lowering its own import duties on a range of US products. These include all industrial products fish and seafood as well as selected agricultural products that Switzerland considers "non-sensitive".
The Swiss government noted that Swiss companies have announced plans to make direct investments in the United States totaling 200 billion dollars by the end of 2028.
Switzerland explained that the reduction of the additional US tariffs is expected to help stabilise bilateral trade relations and have positive effects on the Swiss economy even though overall tariffs remain higher than before the United States raised them to 39 percent in April. (end) imk.hm