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Top Swiss commerce official to meet with Trump administration

Head of Seco Budliger Artieda officially travels to the USA
Details of Budliger Artieda's meeting in Washington next week still need to be worked out, a spokesperson said. Keystone-SDA

Switzerland has received an appointment from the United States for a meeting with the Trump administration. The head of the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs, Helene Budliger Artieda, will travel to Washington next week. Details of the visit are not yet known.

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Fabian Maienfisch, a spokesperson for the state secretariat, confirmed the information, first published in the Tages-Anzeiger newspaper, to the Keystone-SDA news agency. The aim of the meeting will be to establish initial contact between officials; no negotiations or agreements are expected.

+ How can Switzerland prepare for Trump 2.0?

The fact that Swiss authorities were able to get a meeting in Washington so soon is a surprise. The current wait time for a visit to US President Donald Trump’s administration is several weeks. According to Maienfisch, it is not yet clear on which day of the week Budliger Artieda will travel to the US, nor is it clear yet with whom she will speak, and what the content of the talks will be.

+ US blacklists Switzerland for “unfair trade”

However, Switzerland’s aim is likely to be to prevent a trade war with the US, which has already placed Switzerland on a list of countries with “unfair trade practices”.

Translated from German with DeepL/gw

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