Swiss economics minister Guy Parmelin hopes to see reduced United States tariffs from the beginning of December. +Get the most important news from Switzerland in your inbox "In Switzerland, we are ready", Parmelin told Swiss public broadcaster SRF. In the US, it will take a little more time. A week ago, Switzerland and the US signed a joint declaration of intent to reduce the punitive tariffs from 39% to 15%. The agreement was "no triumph" for Parmelin. "But we now have a clarified situation. That's good for stability," he said. + Will Switzerland be flooded with cheap, hormone-filled beef? "What we did was realpolitik," Parmelin added. For a small, export-orientated country with only nine million inhabitants, this was "absolutely necessary". Parmelin rejected criticism that Switzerland had made too many concessions for the agreement. So far there has only been a declaration of intent. "Now we have to negotiate," he said. Switzerland could also demand certain things. For example ...
