GENEVA (AP) \u2014 After weeks of working with U.S. officials to try to avoid hefty tariffs on Swiss goods, negotiators from Switzerland got assurances that a deal was all but done. Swiss businesses vowed to pour tens of billions in investment in the United States in the coming years.<\/p>\n
Still, President Donald Trump<\/a> said no to any special deal. Now a scramble is underway ahead of Thursday, the deadline for when the whopping 39% tariff on Swiss products announced last week goes into effect. <\/p>\n Switzerland\u2019s President Karin Keller-Sutter and other top officials traveled to Washington on Tuesday to try to convince Trump that the measure \u2014 among the highest from the Trump administration \u2014 was too much and could cut profits for famed Swiss industries like chocolates and watchmaking.<\/p>\n The new rate is over 2 1\/2 times higher than the one on European Union<\/a> goods exported to the U.S. and nearly four times higher than on British exports to the U.S. \u2014 raising questions about Switzerland\u2019s ability to compete with the 27-member bloc that it neighbors.<\/p>\n Under the U.S. announcements from last Friday, the export duties imposed on Swiss companies will now only be surpassed by those on firms from Laos, Myanmar and Syria, which are facing 40-41% rates.<\/p>\n A cautionary tale<\/p>\n Switzerland\u2019s case is a lesson in do\u2019s and don\u2019ts of doing business with Trump. The thinking goes, if a rich country with economic might that excels in technology, pharmaceuticals and finance can\u2019t convince the U.S. president to scale back the high tariffs, who can?<\/p>\n Trump himself seems to be focused on a single, high number: Switzerland\u2019s trade surplus in goods with the U.S.<\/p>\n In an interview with CNBC on Tuesday, Trump alluded to a recent call he had with Keller-Sutter, saying \u201cthe woman was nice, but she didn\u2019t want to listen\u201d and that he had told her: \u201cWe have a $41 billion deficit with you, Madame.\u201d<\/p>\n It was not immediately clear where that $41 billion figure came from. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the U.S. ran a $38.3 billion trade imbalance on goods last year with Switzerland. That figure excludes exports of services. <\/p>\n