The Federal Council decided on its own – this angered several politicians in Bern.Image: keystone
The Federal Council is making concessions to the USA without anything in return. Parliamentarians criticize the approach and feel that they are being ignored.
July 1, 2026, 12:21 p.mJuly 1, 2026, 12:29 p.m
Federal President Guy Parmelin’s one-sided commitments in the customs dispute with the USA are causing a lack of understanding among parliament’s foreign policy experts. That’s what he writes Daily Gazette on Wednesday.
The Federal President met with US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer in Washington on Monday met for discussions. The question was what will happen with tariffs at the end of July. The “Joint Statement” from last November, which sets import tariffs for Swiss goods of 15 percent, will then expire.
At Monday’s meeting, Parmelin signed a unilateral declaration of intent that Switzerland would continue to adhere to the “Joint Statement”. The Federal President promised that hurdles to the import of US pharmaceutical products and cars would also be reduced. In return, the USA did not sign a corresponding declaration or make any concessions.
The Federal Council was allowed to have a say, but Parliament was not
As the “Tagesanzeiger” writes, the Federal Council approved Parmelin’s actions last Wednesday. However, the members of the Foreign Policy Commissions (APK) were only informed about the events after the media. That pissed some people off.
On the one hand, the parliamentarians are bothered by the fact that the Federal Council did not consult them about the decision. FDP National Councilor Simon Michel criticizes the fact that the Federal Council has chosen the ordinance route and left Parliament out. SP Council of States and President of the APK Carlo Sommaruga chose clear words for the “Tagesanzeiger”: “That’s a pretty authoritarian approach.”
There is also criticism that the Federal President did not insist on US concessions. FDP Council of States Damian Müller says: “Switzerland must not believe that it can automatically buy goodwill in Washington with one-sided concessions.” The Federal Council should have represented Switzerland’s interests more consistently. GLP Councilor of States Tiana Angelina Moser speaks of a “disturbing” approach by the Federal Council.
Hope for a trade agreement
There was support for this from Swissmem President Stefan Brupbacher, who defended the approach to the “Tagesanzeiger”. Swissmem is the association of the Swiss tech industry.
Meanwhile, SVP Councilor of States Hannes Germann is pinning his hopes on a binding trade agreement with the USA and says: “It’s okay for the Federal Council to make the changes itself, since we can decide on the trade agreement in the end.” State Secretary Helene Budliger Artieda recently doubted whether such an agreement would actually come about at the media conference on Monday.
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