Swiss President Karin Keller-Sutter and Swiss Economy Minister Guy Parmelin depart after a meeting with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Washington

Washington (AFP) - Switzerland’s president held last-gasp talks Wednesday with the US secretary of state after rushing to Washington to avert a surprise steep hike in tariffs – but her chances of meeting Donald Trump were unclear.

The Alpine country faces a 39-percent duty on many of its exports to the United States come Thursday, one of the highest levels among dozens of economies due to be hit by President Trump’s upcoming tranche of tariffs.

President Karin Keller-Sutter said she and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio – who does not oversee tariff policy – had “discussed bilateral cooperation between Switzerland and the US, and the tariff situation, and international issues.”

A US State Department spokeswoman said the talks included “the importance of a fair and balanced trade relationship that benefits the American people.”

Keller-Sutter and Economy Minister Guy Parmelin hurried to Washington after an emergency meeting of the Swiss government on Monday.

The White House told AFP that there was, for now, no meeting planned with Trump, who threatened in April to slap a 31-percent tariff on Swiss goods.

Trump blindsided the country last week when Washington released an updated list of tariff levels for dozens of US trading partners, due to take effect Thursday, showing the Swiss duty would be raised to 39 percent.

This is significantly higher than the 15-percent level faced by economies like the European Union, Japan and South Korea.

On Tuesday, Trump told CNBC in an interview that he “did something with Switzerland the other day” and spoke to Keller-Sutter, although he referred to her mistakenly as “their prime minister.”

“The woman was nice, but she didn’t want to listen,” he added.

It remains unclear if the Swiss delegation, which includes business leaders, will meet with US economic officials during the trip.

The Swiss embassy said no press conference was planned, adding the president’s visit “demonstrates Switzerland’s clear commitment to reaching a positive, forward-looking agreement.”

Keller-Sutter told German television that her talks with Rubio were friendly and open.

The wave of US tariffs taking effect Thursday does not cover sectors that are being separately targeted by US investigations such as pharmaceuticals, a key sector for Switzerland.

But Trump signaled that fresh duties on pharmaceutical imports could be announced within the week, starting at a low level before potentially surging as high as 250 percent.