Switzerland hires US lobby firm to secure access to AI chips

SECO Director Helene Budliger Artieda has been in the US since Sunday. Keystone-SDA

Switzerland's State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) has hired a lobbying firm in the United States to help Switzerland gain full access to artificial intelligence chips.

+Get the most important news from Switzerland in your inbox

SECO confirmed a Tamedia article that it had hired a lobbying firm in the US – the law firm Akin Gump – to help Switzerland gain full access to AI chips.

It did not elaborate on the mandate for the law firm Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld (Akin Gump for short) when asked by the news agency Keystone-SDA on Tuesday. “The specialised American law firm is supporting Switzerland on the ‘AI chips’,” it confirmed.

The question of costs remained unclear. According to the newspapers, the contract also regulates any lobbying against the 31% tariffs imposed on Swiss imports by US President Donald Trump.

According to the Tamedia newspapers, Akin Gump is the number two in the Washington lobbying business with an annual turnover of $65 million. The engagement became known due to a legal regulation in the US, according to which the law firm must report the mandate.

Export restrictions from Biden

Access to advanced and powerful AI computer chips is restricted for companies from Switzerland, which is not considered an “ally” in the US capital. Even before Trump took office, former President Joe Biden’s administration announced export restrictions for advanced AI chips.

SECO Director Helene Budliger Artieda has been in the US since Sunday taking part in talks. She is currently in Washington to prepare a visit by President Karin Keller-Sutter and Economics Minister Guy Parmelin.

On Tuesday, SECO did not provide any further information about possible meetings or any progress made. Parmelin’s office said it would communicate any meetings “in due course”.

On Sunday, it was announced that Budliger Artieda would remain in Washington until Wednesday. The state secretary was in Washington a fortnight ago.

31% tariff from Wednesday

Her new visit comes just a few days after the US announced that it would impose tariffs of 31% on Swiss goods imports. Since Saturday, all exports to the US have been subject to a 10% tariff. From Wednesday, country-specific tariffs will apply and thus an additional 21% for Switzerland.

Finance ministers and central bank governors are due to attend the spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank in Washington from April 22 to 26. Swiss government ministers Keller-Sutter and Parmelin will be in attendance. Martin Schlegel, chair of the Swiss National Bank, will also be present.

Translated from French by DeepL/sb

How we work

We select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools such as DeepL to translate them into English. A journalist then briefly reviews the translation for clarity and accuracy before publication. Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles. The news stories we select have been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team.

Did you find this explanation helpful? Please fill out the short survey on this page to help us understand your needs.