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Switzerland scrambling to lower 39% tariff burden

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Plane purchases via Switzerland could cut U.S. deficit

ZURICH, Aug 13 (Reuters) - Discussions on how to lower

Switzerland's tariff burden with the United States have broached

importing aeroplanes, Swiss International Air Lines

said on Wednesday, as the country seeks to reduce its trade

surplus with the U.S..

Swiss officials and business leaders are trying to craft a

plan that will persuade the U.S. to reduce the tariffs of 39%

imposed last week on Switzerland by the Trump administration, to

the dismay of the Swiss government.

U.S. President Donald Trump has cited the country's trade

deficit in goods with Switzerland - more than $38 billion in

2024, according to U.S. figures - as grounds for the tariffs.

Among the business executives who accompanied top Swiss

government officials in Washington last week during a last ditch

push to avert the tariffs was Jens Fehlinger, CEO of Swiss

International Air Lines, a unit of Germany's Lufthansa.

Swiss newspaper Tages-Anzeiger reported that Fehlinger had

pitched the idea to the Swiss officials of having Lufthansa

process future purchases of Boeing ( BA ) aircraft through

Switzerland in a bid to cut the U.S. trade deficit.

Responding to a question on the report, Swiss International

said the talks over trade included discussion about the

"framework conditions for aircraft imports and possible options

- for the Lufthansa Group, SWISS, the United States, and U.S.

companies".

"Any substantive statements on these considerations and the

negotiations themselves remain the responsibility of the

relevant government agencies," it added.

A source familiar with Switzerland's trade discussions said

the plane import idea had arisen but was not very concrete.

In a statement, Lufthansa said it was interested in the

success of its Swiss unit and the Swiss economy.

"Fleet procurement at the Lufthansa Group is carried out in

close coordination with the airlines," it added.

The Swiss economy ministry did not respond to a request for

comment on the story.