Top Swiss envoy calls for ‘coalition’ to meet US tariff challenge during visit to China
The official discussed with Foreign Minister Wang Yi ways for countries to support a ‘multilateral world’, from which Washington was ‘disengaging’.
“The difficulty we are having on the tariff matter is something that every other country shares. We have to create a kind of coalition,” he said. “A trade war is good to no one. Even [for] the US. We believe deeply in that.”
Cassis, who was on a two-day visit to China, was responding to a question about whether Trump’s sweeping tariffs would force Switzerland – which generally maintains a policy of neutrality on geopolitical and military matters – to take sides or strengthen cooperation with other trading partners.
The top Swiss diplomat responded by calling China a “very important” partner in areas including trade, but also stressed that the European Union and the US were also important partners.
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Switzerland, he added, was “very much impacted” by Trump’s tariffs, noting that the European country has a relatively small and open economy that would suffer when targeted with the protectionist measures.