ZURICH (Reuters) -The Swiss government declined to comment on Monday after Bloomberg reported the country was close to agreeing a deal with the U.S. that would reduce Washington’s tariffs on its exports to 15%.

“The talks are ongoing and we do not comment further,” a spokesman for the Swiss Department of Economic Affairs said.

Bloomberg said a deal could be agreed in the next two weeks, citing unnamed sources, adding that nothing had been finalised.

Washington imposed duties of 39% on Swiss imports in August, threatening access for Swiss companies which number the United States as one of their biggest markets for watches, machine tools and chocolate.

(Reporting by John Revill; editing by Mark Heinrich)

See Full Page