It could take a while until the USA and Switzerland come to an agreement.Image: keystone
March 28, 2026, 6:56 p.mMarch 28, 2026, 6:56 p.m
According to Federal President Guy Parmelin, Switzerland will negotiate a trade agreement with the USA beyond March 31st. The reason is a decision by the US Supreme Court on the subject of tariffs.
The deadline “de facto no longer exists,” Parmelin told the radio of the Italian-speaking Switzerland RSI on the sidelines of the SVP delegates’ meeting in Maienfeld GR. “We have already had two rounds of negotiations and the negotiations are progressing.”
In December, Switzerland and the USA announced in a joint statement that the aim was to complete the transaction in the first quarter of 2026 – subject to the respective domestic approval processes.
In February, however, the Supreme Court of the United States declared the tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump to be partially illegal. The court concluded that Trump exceeded his constitutional authority by using emergency law to impose the tariffs in question without congressional approval.
Trump then immediately imposed additional global tariffs of 10 percent based on a different legal basis. These apply to all countries, but are limited until next July. The relevant provision, Section 122 of the Trade Act, gives the president the authority to impose tariffs for 150 days “in the face of a serious imbalance in the balance of payments” without immediate approval from Congress.
However, that does not mean that we will wait until July to reach a result, Parmelin said in the RSI report: “We are negotiating normally.” (sda)