New three-party coalition takes office in Austria
Administering the oath to Cabinet members, President Alexander Van der Bellen urged the three factions to always put the good of the state before party interests.
He also called on the new government to play an active role in strengthening the European Union in light of soaring global tensions.
"We must strategically secure peace in Austria and in Europe," Van der Bellen said.
The alliance will be led by ÖVP head Christian Stocker as chancellor, while SPÖ chief Andreas Babler will serve as vice-chancellor. NEOS party leader Beate Meinl-Reisinger will take on the role of foreign minister.
The ÖVP and SPÖ have appointed six Cabinet members each, while the NEOS hold two ministerial posts.
The swearing-in ceremony marked the end of a five-month search for a new government. The far-right Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) won the parliamentary elections in September, but has been forced to go into opposition after coalition talks with the ÖVP failed earlier this year.
The new alliance's primary tasks include boosting the economy and reducing the country's large budget deficit. The three parties have also agreed on a tougher approach to migration.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
USA Today
3 days ago
- USA Today
Trump's 39% Swiss tariff - among the highest - gives Alpine country's watches hard time
The Swiss government said it viewed the White House's new tariffs with "great regret." The Swiss watch industry has been suffering from weak global demand and sales lately. A decision by the Trump administration to impose a 39% tariff on Switzerland may add to their hard time. More than 90 countries were given new tariffs on Aug. 1 as part of President Donald Trump's drive to reduce the gap between the value of goods the United States buys from other countries and those it sells to them. Trump believes tariffs will boost American manufacturing and protect jobs. Many economists are skeptical it will work. The Swiss government said it viewed the White House's new tariffs with "great regret." The Swiss Federal Council said it remained in contact with U.S. authorities about the tariffs and "continues to strive for a negotiated solution." Guitars, bagels and booze: How Canadians became reluctant warriors in Trump tariff fight Only Laos and Myanmar (also known as Burma), at 40%, and Syria, at 41%, fared worse than Switzerland in terms of Trump's fresh tariffs on their goods. The Alpine country now has until Aug. 7 to work out a trade deal with the United States or chocolate, jewellery and, yes, watches, will be subject to levies more than double the 15% rate for most European Union imports into the United States. Switzerland's pharmaceuticals sector was not included in the tariffs. Switzerland shipped about $63 billion of goods to the United States in 2024, according to the office of the United States Trade Representative. That's about one-sixth of its total exports. Going the other way, goods exported from the United States to Switzerland totaled an estimated $25 billion last year, a trade deficit of $38 billion. The U.S. was Switzerland's top market in 2024 for perhaps its most famous good: timepieces. They accounted for about 17% of exports, or about $5.4 billion, according to Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry. July jobs report: employers added 73,000 jobs; unemployment rises Still, for the Swiss watch, Trump's 39% tariffs may amount to bad timing. The industry has struggled with weak demand from China, the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry says. The trade uncertainty unleashed by Trump's tariffs over the last few months has meanwhile boosted the value of the Swiss franc currency, making the nation's watches more expensive for tourists who buy them while on vacation. Over the last decade, some brands of Swiss watch have also lost out on market share to the Apple Watch. Overall, Swiss watch exports have been falling. They were down as much as 10% in May. More: Trump's new tariffs slam trading partners, U.S. stock market: Live updates Financial markets in Switzerland were closed for a national holiday on Aug. 1, giving respite to the shares prices of producers such as Richemont and Swatch Group. But Watches of Switzerland Group, a retailer that sells Rolex and other timepieces in the United Kingdom and the United States, saw its U.K.-listed share prices fall nearly 8%. Critics of tariffs argue that the additional costs of goods are typically passed to the consumer. Analysts at Jefferies Global Research and Strategy told Bloomberg that if the 39% tariff goes ahead for Switzerland, it could require price increases in the United States for Swiss watches of more than 20%.
CNBC
3 days ago
- CNBC
U.S. stuns Switzerland with 39% tariff — but new deadline provides hope
Switzerland is officially on holiday Friday for the country's national day. But many market watchers have been hauled back to their desks by news overnight that they have been hit with a 39% tariff rate by the White House. That came as a shock to the Alpine nation. Indications in the Swiss press had been that the country was close to negotiating an outline deal similar to those struck by the European Union, the U.K. and Japan, which set baseline tariffs between 10% and 15%. Instead, it has received one of the highest rates of any country. That is hugely significant, with the U.S. accounting for around a sixth of Switzerland's total exports. Businesses breathed a sign of relief in April when the country swerved initial plans for a 31% tariff, being handed an interim 10% duty along with most of the world. As of late Thursday, new tariff rates on a dozens of countries that have not yet agreed a framework trade arrangement with the U.S. are set to come into force from Aug. 7. Given the precedent set by U.S. President Donald Trump for last-minute deadline changes and down-to-the-wire deals, that does leave room for the situation to change. Another potential reprieve came as the Swiss Federal Department of Economic Affairs told Reuters on Friday it understands the 39% tariff will not include the pharmaceutical sector, which is separately facing volatility from Trump's latest comments on drug pricing. CNBC has contacted the White House for comment. Amid the uncertainty, reactions were overwhelmingly negative on Friday. Switzerland's federal council said it had "great regret that, despite the progress made in bilateral talks and Switzerland's very constructive stance from the outset, the US intends to impose unilateral additional tariffs on imports from Switzerland." It added that it continued to seek a "negotiated solution" and was in contact with U.S. authorities. Manufacturing association Swissmem said a 39% tariff would hit the tech industry, exports and therefore the whole country "extremely hard," noting that every second franc brought into the economy was made from foreign trade. "I am stunned. These tariffs are based on no rational basis and are arbitrary. This decision puts tens of thousands of jobs in the industry at risk," the group's director Stefan Brupbacher said. Beat Wittmann, chairman and partner at Porta Advisors, said the news delivered a "devastating" blow to the Swiss economy and businesses. "The U.S. leads a zigzagging unilateral war on tariffs and this unpredictability imposes a rising risk premium on financial assets," he said in emailed comments. "This will lead to a weakening of the Swiss economy, the Swiss Franc and the Swiss equity market, particularly the all-important export sector." The Swiss government needs to recognize that the time for "cherry picking, carve outs and special deals" is over, particularly for small, highly-exposed states, Wittmann added. Key Swiss exports include chemical and pharmaceutical products, watches and jewellery, chocolate, gemstones and electronics. Adrian Prettejohn, Europe economist at Capital Economics, said in a note that a 39% tariff rate would knock around 0.6% off Switzerland's GDP, or more with the inclusion of pharmaceuticals — but that he expected it to be negotiated down. With the Swiss stock market closed for national day, indicators are instead feeding through other avenues such as the performance of London-listed Watches of Switzerland, which fell nearly 9% in morning deals. In a Friday note to clients, analysts at investment bank Jefferies cited the company, along with Richemont and Swatch Group, as among those that would take the biggest hits from the news, particularly relative to previous expectations. However, they added that the Aug. 7 start date allowed for "plenty of last minute tweaks and changes to be agreed." The Swiss franc meanwhile slid around 0.4% against the U.S. dollar on Friday. However, that comes after a huge rally in the franc against the greenback this year, with gains of around 11% as investors hunted for safe-haven assets. That has delivered challenges to the economy, which in May marked a return to deflation for the first time since the Covid-19 pandemic — spurring the Swiss National Bank to cut interest rates to zero in June. Rahul Sahgal, CEO of the Swiss-American Chamber of Commerce, told CNBC's "Squawk Box Europe" the tariff news was "very disappointing" after many rounds of negotiations with the U.S. Treasury Department. "I have to say, however, that I hope and I do not think that it is the end," he said. "We have still, firstly, those days till the 7th of August, and also, if you read the executive order, it does leave a certain window open, let's put it that way, saying that if you are in negotiations with the U.S. these additional tariffs may not apply." One element of previously-struck deals is a commitment to increase investment in the U.S., which in the case of the EU is set to total $600 billion along with hundreds of billions in additional energy purchases. On this, Sahgal said Switzerland was looking in the range of a $150 billion investment pledge, which was one of the biggest relative to the size of its economy. The country is already the sixth largest overall investor in the U.S., he added. Sahgal continued that it was hard to say what the sticking point in negotiations had been or how the 39% rate had been calculated, noting that across both goods and services the trade relationship between Switzerland and the U.S. was balanced — but that Trump was only focused on the former. "Switzerland is a country... of 9 million people, and the U.S. has something like 30 million people. So even if... every Swiss was to drink a bottle of bourbon and eat a steak every single day and buy a Harley Davidson, we would not be able to balance the trade in goods," he said.
New York Times
3 days ago
- New York Times
Switzerland Is Stunned by 39% U.S. Tariff, Among the Highest in the World
Switzerland got a rude awakening on Friday, a national holiday, after President Trump imposed a 39 percent tariff on goods imported from the Alpine country, one of the highest rates of any country. Karin Keller-Sutter, the Swiss president, said that she had spoken with Mr. Trump on Thursday but that 'no agreement could be reached.' The Swiss were already indignant about Mr. Trump's initial threat, in April, to levy a 31 percent tariff on their goods. When the White House announced revised rates late on Thursday, the Swiss were shocked to see that already steep rate raised further. Many other tariffs were maintained or lowered somewhat by Mr. Trump's revisions. Now, Swiss products imported in the United States, including pharmaceuticals, precision instruments and even coffee capsules, will be subject to the 39 percent tariff if the two sides don't hash out a trade deal by Aug. 7. Stefan Legge, the head of tax and trade Policy at Switzerland's Institute for Law and Economics, said that a deal could still happen at any time, given Mr. Trump's track record of surprise announcements. 'But the most annoying thing is that we are still in this situation of uncertainty,' he said. Swiss business associations called for urgent negotiations and warned that without a trade agreement, Swiss goods in America would become significantly more expensive than goods imported from the European Union, which negotiated a 15 percent tariff, or Britain, with a 10 percent tariff. Shares of Watches of Switzerland, a London-listed seller of high-end timepieces, a major Swiss export, tumbled over 6 percent, to their lowest level in years. Ms. Keller-Sutter said that for Mr. Trump, the U.S. trade deficit with Switzerland was 'a key issue' behind the tariff rate. But over half of Switzerland's trade gap with the United States comes from gold bouillon and bars refined in Swiss foundries and exported in large quantities to America. The Swiss central bank has suggested gold shouldn't be counted in the trade balance sheet. Gold imports are exempt from Mr. Trump's tariffs. Excluding gold, pharmaceutical products are Switzerland's largest export to the United States. The drug industry, including the Swiss pharma giants Roche and Novartis, is on edge after the Trump administration sent letters to all major pharma firms on Thursday demanding that they offer lower prices for American consumers.
