The week in Switzerland
Dear Swiss Abroad,
In the week that the first snowflakes fell on the Swiss lowlands, temperatures remained high over the recently agreed tariff deal between Switzerland and the United States. Swiss newspapers were filled with words such as “humiliation”, “kowtow” and “uncertainty”.
However, journalists – and everyone else – were cheered up by an event in Kosovo on Tuesday night: Switzerland qualified for the 2026 football World Cup.
It’s a deal! Last Friday Switzerland and the United States announced they had reached an agreement on tariffs for Swiss exports. Is it any good? Most people welcomed the news with an air of resignation: the new rate of 15% is better than 39% but it’s still far from ideal.
“From the outset, the Swiss government has been humiliated by the occupant of the White House. Confident of his strength, he took the Federal Council for a ride – it had no option but to return to the negotiating table, suffering torment and ridicule,” said La Liberté in Fribourg, which referred to a “Pyrrhic victory”. It pointed out that, as part of the deal, Swiss companies would be forced to invest $200 billion (CHF160 billion) in the US by 2028, “which will inevitably involve transferring jobs across the Atlantic”, and Switzerland would have to accept imports of “controversial agricultural products, such as hormone-treated beef or chlorinated chicken”.
Michel Darbellay, deputy director of the Swiss Farmers’ Union, played down the potential impact of the deal. “It’s a relief first for the dairy market, for cheese exports, but also for Swiss chocolate,” he told Swiss public broadcaster RTS. He pointed out that “chlorine-treated chicken is banned” in Switzerland and said the idea that Swiss supermarkets would be flooded with American meat was exaggerated. “We have the strictest animal welfare regulations in the world.”
The Neue Zürcher Zeitung (NZZ) said tariffs may have been reduced to 15%, but this is well above the 3% average in force at the start of the year. It added that there is still much uncertainty regarding Trump’s next intentions. “Politics in Washington is and remains a major risk for Switzerland, with or without Trump,” the NZZ said.
Negotiations must now translate the intentions of the framework deal into a detailed concrete agreement. “The road ahead looks fraught with obstacles,” predicted the NZZ am Sonntag.
A majority of Swiss voters both at home and abroad look set to reject two popular initiatives – on inheritance tax and compulsory civic duty – next Sunday.
It looks like a heavy defeat for the youth section of the left-wing Social Democratic Party, which wants to tax the super-rich in Switzerland on their inheritance and use the money to tackle the climate crisis. Only 30% of voters are set to back the proposal, according to a second poll by the gfs.bern research institute, published on Wednesday.
The idea doesn’t appeal to the Swiss Abroad either, even though they tend to vote more in favour of measures to protect the environment than the Swiss back home. In all, 64% of the Swiss Abroad are against the plan, 33% support it and 3% are undecided.
The other issue being decided on November 30 – compulsory civic duty for everyone, including women – hasn’t been much more successful, with support collapsing during the campaign. According to the gfs.bern poll, 64% of those questioned are opposed, 18 percentage points more than a month ago. Only 32% are still in favour, and 4% are yet to form an opinion. The numbers are similar for the Swiss Abroad: 62% say they are against the plan, 34% support it and 4% are undecided.
Will it? Won’t it? Rumours have circulated for months that Swiss bank UBS is going to move its headquarters to the United States if the Swiss government doesn’t back down on new capital rules. This week it was revealed that UBS chair Colm Kelleher and US Treasury secretary Scott Bessent had privately discussed the issue.
The Trump administration was “receptive to welcoming one of Switzerland’s most prized assets”, wrote the Financial Times, which broke the news on Monday, quoting “three people familiar with the conversation”.
UBS’s official position hadn’t changed: “As we have said repeatedly, we want to continue to operate successfully as a global bank out of Switzerland.”
Thomas Jordan, former chairman of the Swiss National Bank, told Swiss public television SRF on Tuesday that he couldn’t judge whether such a move by UBS was realistic, but he was clear that “the important thing is not to make threats like this”. He said there needed to be an objective dialogue between the government and the bank about the capital adequacy regulations, without emotions. Stability is needed on the one hand, and a viable financial sector on the other. “This is not only important for UBS and the financial sector, but for the entire economy,” Jordan said.
The Swiss men’s national football team have qualified for next year’s World Cup in North America, despite being held to a 1-1 draw by Kosovo on Tuesday.
“Solid without being brilliant,” was the verdict of Swiss public broadcaster RTS. “The Swiss team had to be content with a draw, which enabled them to end the calendar year unbeaten for the first time since… 1945! It also means they qualify directly for a sixth consecutive World Cup, following on from 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018 and 2022.”
“This is truly impressive,” wrote Blick. “Switzerland, this small country in this big, wide world, has qualified for a major tournament for the seventh time in a row.” The Swiss didn’t make it to Euro 2012 but have played in every Euro and World Cup since.
Manager Murat Yakin’s team finished top of Group B, completing an unbeaten qualifying campaign. Switzerland will now be one of 48 teams – the format has been expanded from 32 teams – to take part in the 2026 World Cup, held in the United States, Canada and Mexico from June 11 to July 19.
The week ahead
This year’s Berner Zibelemärit, an onion market going back hundreds of years, is taking place on Monday. Local farmers descend on the capital with about 50 tonnes of carefully braided onions.
On Tuesday the Federal Office for Civil Protection is holding a conference on global megatrends and their implementation in the specific case of earthquake resilience.
The European Economic Forum, “Europe’s leading business conference for current and future leaders” is taking place on Wednesday and Thursday at the KKL venue in Lucerne.
On Sunday the Swiss are voting on two national issues: inheritance tax and compulsory civic duty. Swissinfo will bring you all the results and analysis.
Edited by Samuel Jaberg
In compliance with the JTI standards
More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative
