Bern ready to buy American weapons to reduce taxes

Swiss Defense Minister Martin Pfister said Sunday he was "open" to the idea of placing new arms orders with the United States in an attempt to reduce exorbitant customs duties imposed by Washington. Bern is seeking to initiate new talks with the United States after a last-minute mission to the American capital failed to prevent the imposition of a 39% customs duty, which Swiss companies described as a "worst case scenario."

"Military purchases are important for relations with the United States," Martin Pfister told the Swiss news agency Keystone-ATS. "However, we must first find a path for discussion with the Americans" to try to advance relations as a whole, he added.

US President Donald Trump caught Switzerland off guard by announcing that the wealthy Alpine country would be hit with some of the highest tariffs he has imposed anywhere in the world, which came into effect Thursday. The tariffs are jeopardizing entire sectors of Switzerland's export-heavy economy , including watchmaking and industrial machinery, but also chocolate and cheese.

Swiss companies fear that their competitors in other wealthy economies will gain an advantage, as the European Union and Japan negotiated a 15% tariff, while Britain secured a rate of only 10%. Switzerland argued that the United States enjoys a large trade surplus in services, and most American industrial products enter Switzerland tariff-free.

Martin Pfister stressed that the government had decided not to challenge Switzerland's current contract for the purchase of 36 new Lockheed Martin F-35A fighter jets. "The issue of the fixed price remains to be resolved," he added. Switzerland and the United States are discussing the final price of the F-35As purchased to replace an aging fleet.

The US Defense Security Cooperation Agency wants Switzerland to cover additional costs, but Bern says it is sticking to the agreed price of just over 6 billion Swiss francs (6.4 billion euros).