President Donald Trump says he once raised tariffs on Switzerland after a tense phone call with the country’s leader, claiming her tone during the conversation pushed him to hit them harder.
Trump shared the story Tuesday during an interview on Fox Business with Larry Kudlow, who served as director of the National Economic Council during Trump’s first term. While discussing his trade approach, Trump defended his reciprocal tariff strategy and dismissed critics.
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According to Trump, “only stupid people and people who really hate Trump” would oppose his tariff plan. During the conversation, Trump brought up Switzerland as an example of how he handles trade negotiations and what happens when foreign leaders push back.
Trump said he initially placed a 30% tariff on Switzerland, describing it as “very low,” even though he argued the United States was still running a major trade deficit with the country. He claimed Switzerland’s leader quickly reached out to complain about the tariff, and the call did not go smoothly.
Trump said he received what he described as an emergency call from Switzerland’s “prime minister,” although he appeared to be referring to Karin Keller-Sutter, Switzerland’s former president, who served through December of last year.
Trump said she was upset about the tariff and argued that Switzerland could not afford it because of its size. He claimed she kept repeating the point and would not let the issue go.
He said: “I put on a 30% tariff, which is very low. Still, we were having a big deficit but it was half the deficit and I got an emergency call from I believe the prime minister of Switzerland and she was very aggressive. Nice, but very aggressive. “Sir, we are a small country. We can’t do this. We can’t do this.” I couldn’t get her off the phone. “We are a small country,” and I said, “you may be a small country, but we have a $42 billion deficit with you.” “No, no, we are a small country.” Again and again and again, I couldn’t get her off the phone. So it was at 30% and I didn’t really like the way she talked to us, and so instead of giving her a reduction I raised it to 39%, and then I got inundated by people from Switzerland and I figured, do you know what? We’ll do something that’s a little bit more palatable.
Trump suggested the higher tariff was a direct response to what he saw as an overly aggressive attitude during the call. He described the leader as polite but forceful, and implied he took the tone personally.
He also claimed the move triggered a flood of reactions from Swiss officials and others, prompting him to eventually reconsider and adjust the tariff to something he considered more reasonable.
This is not the first time Trump has mentioned the call. He previously talked about the same exchange while speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, where he said Switzerland’s leader irritated him during their discussion about trade. “She just rubbed me the wrong way, I’ll be honest with you,” he said at the event.
Trump has repeatedly argued that tariffs are one of his strongest tools for dealing with other countries, framing them as a way to force fairer trade deals and reduce U.S. deficits. Critics, however, have warned that aggressive tariffs can backfire by raising costs for American consumers and creating international tensions.
Still, Trump has continued to defend his approach, saying tough measures are necessary when other countries take advantage of the United States in trade agreements.