The week in Switzerland
Dear Swiss Abroad,
Will Trump’s tariffs be invalidated? Will Putin be granted immunity if he comes to Switzerland? Will a Swiss Abroad be crowned “King of the Schwingers”? All this and more in this week’s news round-up.
Things have calmed down a bit on the Trump tariff front – there were no major shocks this week for a change – but that hasn’t stopped the Swiss from asking “why us?”.
“Why is Donald Trump taxing Switzerland so heavily?” was the headline of a podcast on Swiss public broadcaster, RTS. For Cédric Dupont, professor of international relations at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva, the decision is hard to understand. “There’s no economic reality to justify this 39% tariff,” he said on Wednesday. “It’s probably a mood swing on Trump’s part for reasons that are still largely unknown to us.”
On Monday we reported how Swiss brands such as Victorinox, manufacturer of the iconic Swiss army knife, were struggling to adapt to the 39% tariff imposed by the United States on imports of Swiss goods. In addition to price rises, firms were considering moving their activities from Switzerland.
Train manufacturer Stadler Rail relocated part of its production to the US ten years ago, but that doesn’t mean it’s immune to tariffs. Stadler President Peter Spuhler told RTS that although the tariffs are “not fatal” in relation to the total cost of the vehicle, “it does hurt, of course”.
Former National Security Advisor John Bolton reckons Switzerland should just grit its teeth and wait. “With counter-tariffs, you only punish your own people,” he told Blick, pointing out that the duties sought by Trump were under judicial scrutiny. “Many believe that before the end of the year a ruling could be issued that would invalidate them,” he said. “At that point Trump will have to start all over again.”
At the beginning of the week it looked like Geneva could be the location of a meeting between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Now things aren’t so clear.
“It will be a neutral country, so maybe Switzerland. I’m in favour of Geneva, or another country,” said French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday. Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis then said Switzerland was “more than ready” to host a summit between Russia and Ukraine, highlighting Switzerland’s expertise in this area.
Cassis also said Switzerland would grant Putin immunity if he came for a peace conference. Putin is subject to an international arrest warrant by the International Criminal Court related to the alleged unlawful deportation of children from Ukraine to Russia. “The goal of welcoming Mr. Putin to Switzerland without him being arrested is 100% achievable,” Cassis told Swiss public broadcaster, SRF.
However, on Wednesday online portal Watson wrote that Budapest had been suggested for such a meeting during talks between US President Donald Trump and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. Watson based this on reports from the US media Politico and Bloomberg. According to these reports, the US Secret Service was already making arrangements for a meeting between Zelensky and Putin in the Hungarian capital.
This weekend the new Council of the Swiss Abroad (CSA) will hold its inaugural meeting at the Federal Palace in Bern as part of the “SwissCommunity Days” event. The meeting also marks the start of the CSA’s 2025-2029 legislative period.
More than half of the council members are new, and the proportion of female delegates has increased significantly. The focus of the event will be on organisational issues: “What are the structures of the Organisation of the Swiss Abroad (OSA) and the council?”, “What are the most important concerns of the Swiss Abroad?” and “How can delegates best represent their community?”. The adoption of a resolution on the upcoming vote on the electronic identity (e-ID) scheme on September 28 is also on the agenda.
The CSA sees itself as the representative body for the more than 800,000 Swiss citizens who live around the world. In its own words, it acts as the “parliament of the Swiss Abroad”, taking up the concerns of the Swiss Abroad community and advocating for their interests to the Swiss public and authorities.
Six Swiss Abroad – four from the US and two from Canada – are taking part in the Swiss Wrestling and Alpine Festival, which starts on Friday. What are the chances of a Swiss Abroad “King of the Schwingers”?
The three-day “Schwingfest” – Swiss wrestling is known in German as Schwingen – takes place every three years and is one of Switzerland’s most popular festivals. This year Mollis in canton Glarus will welcome around 250,000 fans.
A total of 274 wrestlers will be slipping burlap shorts over their trousers, among them the Americans Connor Treat, Brendan Spahr, Marshall Brockway and Peter Ming as well as the Canadians Martin Mathis and Thomas Badat, the Berner Zeitung reported. Badat, a judoka, competed in 2019 and 2022 but was eliminated after the first day.
Peter Ming also has experience of Schwingen, having competed in several festivals in Switzerland this year. He has also wrestled in festivals organised by descendants of Swiss emigrants on the US West Coast.
The week ahead
The Francomanias Festival, one of the major French-speaking musical events in Switzerland, will entertain crowds from Wednesday to Saturday in Bulle, canton Fribourg.
What will be the mood of this year’s Banking Barometer, published on Thursday by SwissBanking, the Swiss Bankers Association?
Also on Thursday the Federal Statistical Office will put us out of our misery and reveal the most common baby names in Switzerland.
On Friday the three-day Swiss Wrestling and Alpine Festival starts in Mollis in eastern Switzerland (see above).
Edited by Balz Rigendinger/ac
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