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Report nowSwitzerland is fighting the threat of a US tariff hammer in Washington - but Donald Trump is not impressed by facts or investment promises.
President Karin Keller-Sutter and Economics Minister Guy Parmelin traveled to Washington on Tuesday in a symbolic show of strength. Their goal: to avert an impending trade war with the USA at the last minute. But the reception was frosty, the starting position precarious - and the political opponent unpredictable.
US President Donald Trump has recently made it clear on several occasions that he is committed to confrontation. In an interview with CNBC, he took a verbal swipe at Switzerland: The President of the Swiss Confederation was nice, but "didn't listen" to him. Particularly irritating: Trump claimed not to know Keller-Sutter - although the two had already spoken on the phone in April.
For US negotiation experts such as Professor Daniel Ames from Columbia University, this comes as no surprise. Trump conducts negotiations like a poker player, not like a statesman. "He wants to win, not discuss. Anyone who wants to convince him with facts is playing chess - while he has long been sitting at the poker table," Ames tells CH Media.
He draws a remarkable parallel with the Ukrainian president: Volodymyr Selenskyj had also initially tried to build a rationally based relationship with Trump - and failed. "Zelensky tried with arguments, economic facts, strategic partnership - but Trump only listened to personal sympathies, strength and submission," says Ames. What counts for Trump is who flatters him - and who delivers him the media victory.
Swiss negotiation expert Frédéric Mathier also confirms to blue News: "Trump wants a stage, not a lecture. If you don't give him the feeling that he's the boss, the shutter goes down immediately." What the Swiss government considers diplomatic apparently comes across as lecturing to Trump - and that is exactly what happened in the conversation with Keller-Sutter.
But while the political staging continues, massive economic damage is looming in the background. According to ETH economist Hans Gersbach, the threatened tariffs of 39% could cause the Swiss economy to shrink by up to 0.6% - a loss of prosperity of around CHF 600 per capita. Particularly affected: Machine, precision and medical device manufacturers. According to Gersbach, if Trump were to get serious about pharmaceutical products, there could even be a recession.
The meeting between the two statesmen ended in a scandal - and was broken off. (archive picture)
Mystyslav Chernov/AP/dpa
The pressure on the export-oriented Swiss economy is increasing - also internally. Politicians are calling for the pharmaceutical industry to finally contribute to the solution. Roche and Novartis should voluntarily lower their prices in the USA to appease Trump. Former ambassador Thomas Borer and Breitling boss Georges Kern even say that Switzerland is "being held hostage by the pharmaceutical industry".
However, Roche is dismissive: as a Tamedia investigation shows, the Basel-based company sees no connection between drug prices and the tariff threat. The price negotiations with the US government were independent of Switzerland anyway. A person close to the company says: "A weakening of the pharmaceutical industry would not benefit the Swiss economy."
With an investment package of 50 billion dollars, Roche is making a significant contribution to the Swiss commitment to the USA promised by Trump. But new concessions? Not at all. CEO Thomas Schinecker emphasizes that the company is prepared for possible tariffs, is expanding US production - and is even hoping for tariff credits.
The delegation in Washington is therefore largely on the losing side. They do want to make the USA a "more attractive offer" - probably similar to the deal that the EU was able to conclude with Trump. But whether this will be enough is questionable. According to US officials, not even a meeting with Trump is planned. The crucial question now is: how can a president who wants a spectacle rather than a compromise be persuaded?
Ames' answer: if you want to negotiate with Trump, you have to let him win - or at least sell him the victory. But that is precisely what Keller-Sutter has clearly missed. Switzerland comes across as rational, correct, objective - and that is precisely what is not a currency in Trump's world.
