US President Donald Trump has said that a tense phone call with Swiss President Karin Keller-Sutter played a role in his decision to sharply increase tariffs on Swiss imports, a move that later turned into a major trade standoff between the two countries. He said he increased the tariffs on Swiss imports to the US from 30% to 39% because he didn’t like how the Swiss Prime Minister spoke to him during the phone call.
Trump Reveals He Slapped Switzerland With A Tariff INCREASE Because He 'Didn't Like The Way [The Swiss Official] Spoke To Us'
— Aditya Raj Kaul (@AdityaRajKaul) February 11, 2026
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Speaking in an interview with Fox Business host Larry Kudlow on Tuesday, 10th February, Trump explained that he believed Switzerland was sending goods into the United States without paying enough tariffs. He described Switzerland as “a very nice country” but said the trade gap had grown too wide.
According to him, the U.S. was facing a $42 billion trade deficit with Switzerland. “We have to even it up a little,” Trump said, adding that he first placed a 30% tariff on Swiss products, which he called “very low.”
Trump then recalled getting what he described as an emergency call from Switzerland’s leadership. Although he referred to a prime minister, Switzerland is run by a seven-member Federal Council, and Keller-Sutter currently serves as president.
Trump said the conversation did not go well. “She was a nice woman, but she did not want to listen,” he said, claiming she kept asking him to reduce the tariff. He added that he did not like the way she spoke during the call and, instead of offering any relief, decided to raise the tariff further to 39%.
Trump said, “I didn’t really like the way she talked to us, so instead of giving her a reduction, I raised it to 39%.” His remarks quickly spread online, with many social media users criticising the idea that trade policy could be influenced by the tone of a phone call. Some questioned whether there was a clear long-term plan behind the tariff decisions.
The 39% tariff, introduced last August, put pressure on Swiss exporters and businesses. Over time, Swiss industry groups pushed for a solution. The tariff was eventually reduced to 15%. Notably, the tariff on Switzerland was reduced after a delegation of Swiss business leaders travelled to the White House to meet Trump in the Oval Office.
During that visit, they presented him with expensive gifts, including a Rolex ‘Datejust’ desk clock and a specially engraved one-kilogram gold bar from Swiss-based gold refiner MKS. The gold bar worth $130,000 had the numbers 45 and 47 emblazoned on it, to honour Trump’s first and second presidencies.
Soon after that meeting, Trump announced that progress was being made. He later confirmed that the tariff rate would be cut from 39% to 15%. Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, he said he reduced the rate because he did not want to hurt people, but also warned that it could go up again if needed.
Notably, the gifts were not announced, but alert internet sleuths found out about them. Social media users spotted the Rolex clock on Trump’s Oval Office desk in photos from the White House. They traced it back to photos of a delegation of seven business leaders from Switzerland in the first week of November. The team included Jean-Frédéric Dufour, the head of Rolex. He gifted the clock to the president, accompanied by a letter stating that it was “a modest, refined expression of traditional Swiss watchmaking”.
In November, U.S. and Swiss negotiators reached a preliminary agreement to formalise the 15% rate. As part of the broader understanding, Swiss industry is committed to investing $200 billion in the United States by the end of 2028. Swiss companies have welcomed the lower tariff, saying it helps them compete on similar terms with businesses from the European Union. The two countries are still working to finalise the full agreement, which they hope to complete by the first quarter of 2026.
