“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.
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.