Swiss leaders refrained from implementing countermeasures against sweeping US tariffs and instead want to focus on further talks to find a solution with Donald Trump’s administration.

By John Revill ZURICH (Reuters) -Swiss President Karin Keller-Sutter and Business Minister Guy Parmelin flew to Washington on Tuesday, the government said, in a last-ditch effort to avoid the 39% tariffs announced by President Donald Trump on exports to the United States.

Many were baffled when Donald Trump slapped a steep 39% tariff on imports from Switzerland. The Swiss aren't known for flooding the US with cheap goods, but their outsized role in gold refining is distorting trade data.