The President of the United States, Donald Trump, declared that he ordered an additional increase of 9% in customs duties applied to Switzerland, reaching 39%, after he disliked the way a Swiss leader addressed him during a phone call asking for the elimination of taxes.
Trump stated that the tone of Karin Keller-Sutter, a member of the Swiss Federal Council, whom he mistakenly called “prime minister,” was “repetitive” and “aggressive,” although “polite.” According to the American leader, she constantly insisted that Switzerland is a “small country,” which irritated him, Trump said in an interview given to Fox Business.
“I set tariffs at 30%, which is very little. Then I received an urgent call, I think from the prime minister of Switzerland, who was very aggressive, but polite, yet still very aggressive. She said: ‘Sir, we are a small country. We can’t do this. We can’t do this.’ I couldn’t convince her to hang up the phone,” Trump declared.
He added that, due to his dissatisfaction with the way he was approached, he decided to raise the tariff to 39%.
Trump made similar comments a few weeks ago, at the World Economic Forum in Davos, where he admitted that he doesn’t know exactly whether Switzerland has a prime minister or a president.