By Enver Robelli
This isn’t about a sporting event. Thirty-one percent — that’s the customs tariff American President Donald Trump announced would be applied to Swiss products exported to the U.S. Boom! A draconian tariff, effective April 9. Boom! In Bern, the disappointment is palpable. Efforts to win Trump’s favor in recent months had been intense.
Over the past few months, several Swiss politicians have made a show of signaling to the new administration in Washington that Switzerland is “different” from other Europeans. Before the U.S. elections, a Swiss minister from the right-wing SVP party stated that he “personally leaned toward Trump.” After the elections, Switzerland’s president praised a speech by the U.S. Vice President at the Munich Security Conference, calling it “a very Swiss speech.” The rest of Europe was shocked by that speech — with the exception of Viktor Orbán in Hungary.
For months, right-wing Swiss media (and not only them) tried to create the impression that Switzerland was “Trump’s darling,” the president’s pet. Simultaneously, rhetoric against the EU grew harsher, even as Switzerland continued negotiations for a bilateral agreement that would regulate cooperation. Right-wing circles strongly oppose any deal with the EU.
As it became increasingly clear that Trump would impose tariffs — as “T-Day” approached — Switzerland sent a delegation to Washington. The delegates informed their American friends that Switzerland is just as economically liberal as the United States. It imposes no digital economy taxes. It doesn’t heavily regulate online platforms or artificial intelligence technologies. None of it helped.
Trump walked out into the White House Rose Garden and said:
“Switzerland – 31!”
Boom!
Switzerland’s president appeared before the media on Thursday afternoon and said: “We are disappointed.”
A journalist asked: “Does the government have direct contact with Trump?”
The president replied: “No, we don’t.”
A minister described the situation as a “lose-lose-lose scenario,” meaning both sides are losing. A few days remain for negotiations with Trump’s team before the draconian tariffs come into effect on April 9. For now, Switzerland won’t retaliate with countermeasures, said the government.
For more than two hundred years, Switzerland and the United States have been considered “Sister Republics.” This expression dates back to shortly after the U.S. declared independence in 1776. At the time, a scholar from Bern, Jean-Rodolphe Vautravers, wrote a letter to his friend Benjamin Franklin: “Let us be united as Sister Republics.” In the 18th century, America idealized Switzerland, because in a Europe dominated by royal houses, Switzerland stood out as a republic.
The fourth U.S. Secretary of the Treasury was Albert Gallatin, a Genevan by origin, who emigrated to the land of boundless opportunity in 1780. His statue stands on the north side of the Treasury Department in Washington, just steps from the White House.
When modern Switzerland was founded in 1848, its two-chamber parliamentary system was modeled after the U.S. Congress (the Senate and the House of Representatives). Several elements of the U.S. Constitution were incorporated into the Swiss Constitution.
“Sister Republic”?
The Swiss-American friendship has seen better days.
When Trump issued his decree on Wednesday, he presented a chart and declared:
“Switzerland – 31!”
In the official document released afterward, the figure was listed as 32. So perhaps:
“Switzerland – 32!”
Or maybe 31. Who knows.
Maybe even Trump doesn’t.
“Hope dies last” — that was the headline in one Swiss newspaper.
Boom!
