Switzerland Today
Dear Swiss Abroad,
“The woman was nice, but she didn’t want to listen.” After his blunt appraisal of a phone call with Swiss President Karin Keller-Sutter, Donald Trump has made good on his threat: as of today, Swiss exports to the US face tariffs of 39%.
In business circles, anxiety is running high. However, the stock market is so far keeping calm: the Swiss Market Index even rose slightly this morning. Is this a sign that an agreement can still be reached at a later date? Time will tell.
The 39% tariffs on Swiss goods exports came into force this Thursday morning at 6.01am Swiss time. A last-minute trip to Washington by the finance minister – and current Swiss president – Karin Keller-Sutter and Economics Minister Guy Parmelin failed to change Donald Trump’s position.
“Billions of dollars in tariffs are now flowing into the United States of America,” wrote a delighted Donald Trump on his social network Truth Social. At 39%, Switzerland is subject to one of the highest rates in the world, as Trump considers the country’s trade surplus with the US, estimated at CHF39 billion, to be excessive. Most countries are taxed between 10% and 15%. Others to take a big hit are Canada (35%), India and Brazil (50%).
The delegation led by Keller-Sutter and Parmelin meanwhile returned to Bern empty-handed this morning. After an extraordinary meeting this afternoon, the government affirmed its goal to continue negotiations with the US in order to lower the duties as quickly as possible. It will also hold discussions on possible relief measures for businesses.
As for the Swiss press, it’s not exactly upbeat. “A black day for Switzerland,” wrote the front page of Blick this morning – white letters on a black background. “It’s the end of an illusion: Donald Trump does not want a special relationship with Switzerland,” remarked Tamedia newspapers. 24 Heures meanwhile criticised the government for taking “too long to realise that it needed to move away from classic negotiations and offer the American strongman some big bones to gnaw on, which he could have displayed in public”.
Business circles in Switzerland want the government to take action and continue negotiations with the US. The Swiss stock market, on the other hand, is so far unimpressed by Trump’s power play.
Economiesuisse, the Swiss Business Federation, warned that the tariffs will “severely weaken the international competitiveness of our companies in the US market and seriously jeopardise thousands of jobs”. Economiesuisse also wants a package of measures to strengthen Switzerland as a business location.
Swissmem, the umbrella organisation for the manufacturing industry, referred to a sector “de facto on its death bed” if the 39% tax rate were maintained – “especially in view of the much lower customs duties for competitors from the EU and Japan”. It has published a ten-point list of measures for improving framework conditions for the export industry.
Despite the tariffs, the Swiss stock market opened slightly up this morning. According to traders, however, hopes of avoiding punitive US tariffs at the last minute have been dashed, and it remains to be seen how long the market can hold out. One trader told the Keystone-SDA news agency that there is still a faint hope of reaching a better “deal” at a later date.
As schoolchildren prepare to head back to class in Switzerland, teachers’ associations are concerned about the rise in truancy. On Thursday in Bern, they proposed a series of measures to tackle the problem.
Teachers’ unions say more and more pupils are frequently absent from school for unjustified reasons – sometimes for a few days, sometimes even for several weeks. In recent years, this absenteeism has mainly affected secondary schools, but the phenomenon is now spreading to primary schools too.
To tackle this, unions presented a list of preventive measures on Thursday. These include raising awareness among parents, teachers and specialised psychosocial staff about how early warning signs such as withdrawal, anxiety and physical problems.
As child and adolescent psychologist Fabian Grolimund explains in 24 heures, truancy is akin to burn-out in the world of adult work. “Many children are totally exhausted in the evening. As well as school, there’s the noisy and tiring midday meal, then music lessons, sport and so on. Some have a completely overloaded weekly schedule. To rest, they go to their mobile phones, which exhausts them even more,” Grolimund says.
The metro being built in Bogotá will have Swiss lifts and escalators, after the Schindler firm announced on Thursday that it had won an exclusive contract, for an undisclosed sum, to take part.
Line 1 of the Colombian capital’s metro will include 16 stations over a distance of 23.9 km and will aim to carry more than a million passengers a day by 2028. With the metro, Bogotá aims to improve mobility and reduce traffic congestion.
Each lift and escalator in the network will be remotely monitored, 24 hours a day, from Schindler’s technical operations centre in Medellin, more than 400 km by road from the Colombian capital.
Are you a Swiss citizen living in New Zealand, Israel, Singapore, or Brunei? Swissinfo is giving you the chance to ask your ambassador a question.
On August 23, the SwissCommunity DaysExternal link – the new format of the Congress of the Swiss Abroad – is taking place in Bern. The Swiss ambassadors from New Zealand, Israel, and Singapore/Brunei will all be there – and will be part of a panel discussion, hosted by Swissinfo.
Your questions could feature. What have you always wanted to ask your ambassador? What’s your experience with the Swiss diplomatic representation where you live? As a Swiss Abroad, which topics are most important to you on a daily basis?
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