This is how the Federal Council wants to protect Switzerland

The emergency threatens on April 2: Then US President Donald Trump wants to raise punitive tariffs. On the same day, the Federal Council will hold an exam: how further with the USA? And what if the EU does not want to protect Switzerland in the impending economic war?

For the US President Trump, April 2 is to become a liberation day. He wants to raise punitive tariffs. 25 percent on foreign cars has been clear since Friday. Other products are also newly occupied with tariffs when importing into the USA – which goods and to which tariff is unclear. Poker player Trump puts the cards individually on the table. And depending on the mood, he mixes them again. It is pure power policy.

Also for April 2, the Federal Council wants to hold an exam on the consequences of US trade policy under Trump. According to the “Blick”, the former National Bank President and Blackrock Manager Philipp Hildebrand and the former Swiss US ambassador Martin Dahinden are invited.

Mockers now think that the exam is a little late. Bloss: Only on Wednesday you should know the whole extent of the tariffs decided by Trump. Is it primarily aimed at industry? That would be uncomfortable for Switzerland – but less serious than an attack on the pharmaceutical companies. « We don’t know what’s coming, » says a source familiar with the dossier. After all: April 2 should remedy this.

Nevertheless, the impending emergency in the trade war does not affect the Federal Council. He has already led two pronunciation speeches. And from interviews, speeches and publicly visible documents, a strategy can be seen how the state government wants to lead Switzerland through turbulence and preserve it from damage – the latter will hardly be possible in view of the impending upheavals.

Clink cleaning in Washington

Because there is an impossible not only from overseas: if the EU strikes her own tariffs against Trump’s attack and takes measures to ward off the consequences of the economic war, Switzerland runs the risk of getting between the fronts. The Federal Council’s strategy in a nutshell: Washington with economic numbers – and demand gentle treatment from the EU.

As for the United States, the greatest difficulty for the Federal Council is to be perceived by Trump’s troop. The fact that State Secretary Helene Budliger Artieda managed to organize several meetings with trade officers in Washington is already a success. And it is a chance that Federal President Karin Keller-Sutter and Minister of Economics Guy Parmelin will travel to the World Bank’s spring meeting in the USA at the end of April-maybe a meeting with a government representative can even be organized? Hope dies last.

What the Federal President has to tell the Americans has long been known. Parmelin and Budliger repeated the arguments in interviews almost in the wording: Investments from Switzerland create 400,000 jobs in the USA with very high wages of an average of $ 130,000 a year. « Switzerland stands wide open to goods, services and investments », so it is also available in a publicly visible letter from the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs.

Why, another point that Switzerland proves with punitive tariffs if, thanks to the abolition of industrial tariffs, 99 percent of US exports can be introduced to Switzerland? And anyway: « Switzerland will not participate in a trade war »as State Secretary Budliger explained in an interview with this newspaper.

Ask and threaten in Brussels

This is also a message to the other side, to the EU. Because this is expected to respond to the American attack with countermeasures. And probably try to protect the European economy from low -cost imports from third countries with their own tariffs. The question arises: then Switzerland is Brussels a third country?

That happened to her in the first term of office, at the time of the dispute over aluminum and metal tariffs. This time this should not be repeated.

In a mixture of request and threats, government representatives of various departments indicate the new bilateral contracts that still have to survive in a referendum. « We also point out Brussels that punitive tariffs that also hit Switzerland would be counterproductive with regard to the new bilateral contracts, » said State Secretary Budliger.

Brussels understood this, it says in Bern. But there are also voices that the EU could show with a hard course in Switzerland how important a contractually secured relationship is – which Switzerland has not yet wanted. Nothing has been decided yet.