By Emma Farge
GENEVA (Reuters) -Switzerland has moved to the front of the queue for a trade deal with the United States, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Monday, after the Alpine country hosted surprisingly successful U.S.-China trade talks this weekend.
Before receiving the two sides, Swiss officials met with Bessent and his team on Friday and with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng to discuss its own trade woes with Washington.
In April the U.S. hit Switzerland with 31% tariffs, compared with 20% on the European Union and 10% on Britain. The decision stunned Swiss officials, and major Swiss firms have since made pledges to invest heavily in the United States.
“The UK and Switzerland have moved to the front of the queue for trade deals but the EU has been much slower,” Bessent said.
Bessent was responding to a question at a press conference in Geneva about Switzerland’s future as an intermediary amid perceptions that its neutrality is shifting and as Gulf countries step up.
The EU has suggested it will not be pushed into an unfair U.S. tariffs deal and has proposed potential countermeasures. Britain sealed a quick but limited trade deal with U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration last week.
Switzerland has long sought to act as a bridge-builder during international crises, but analysts said it put in a special effort this time – pointing to its intimate choice of venue for the talks at the private residence of its U.N. ambassador.
U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said much of the negotiations with the Chinese were spent in the shady gardens of the opulent, 18th-century villa overlooking Lake Geneva.
“Everything has gone off flawlessly,” Greer said.
“This may not seem important to those not involved, but the atmospherics provided by the Swiss government were incredibly conducive to the conclusions we had this weekend.”
China’s He was also complimentary, praising Switzerland’s “warm hospitality”.
That extended to the media: a Swiss official offered croissants and drinks to reporters waiting for hours outside.
“Secretary Bessent saw Switzerland’s determination to serve global interests but also to defend our own cause,” said Vincent Subilia, Director General of the Geneva Chamber of Commerce.
(Reporting by Emma Farge; additional reporting by Olivia Le Poidevin; editing by Mark Heinrich)
