Swiss president to visit U.S. amid push for trade deal

ZURICH, June 25 - Swiss President Guy Parmelin will visit the United States and meet with U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer next week, the government said on Thursday, as Bern seeks to formalise a preliminary deal with the Trump administration on tariffs.

Parmelin, who is also Switzerland's economy minister, is going to the United States as part of a June 29 to July 9 visit to North America that will also take him to Canada and Mexico.

Switzerland was last summer subject to the highest U.S. tariffs in Europe when President Donald Trump set a 39% duty on products imported from the country.

In November, Bern sealed the initial deal that cut the tariffs to 15%, mirroring the rate for the European Union. Switzerland later began talks to formalise that accord.

Parmelin will attend Switzerland's soccer World Cup match in Vancouver on July 2, and for the final leg of the trip travels to Mexico, where talks are planned with President Claudia Sheinbaum and various ministers, the economy ministry said.

One of Switzerland's medium-term goals is to update the free trade agreement between the European Free Trade Association and Mexico that has been in force for around 25 years, it added.

Switzerland is the biggest economy inside EFTA, which also comprises Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein. REUTERS