On August 1, US President Donald Trump announced a tariff of 39% for Switzerland. The effects are slowly becoming visible. Only five countries have higher tariffs for their exports to the US than Switzerland. Of all the industrialised nations and European countries, Switzerland has the highest US tariffs. At the same time, the US has one of the highest shares of Swiss foreign trade. The tariffs were therefore very bad news for some industries. But what has happened since August 1? What is the background? On April 2, Trump declared the so-called Liberation Day, a package of import tariffs for a long list of countries. Switzerland was also on this list, with a tariff of 31%, which caused great unrest in Switzerland. However, the Swiss government and business community were optimistic that these could be lowered in negotiations. The government believed it had succeeded: in summer it spoke of a “deal” with 10% tariffs. Then, on Swiss National Day of all days, Trump shocked Switzerland ...
