“Today, we have a hangover. This is a real declaration of trade war. It is unjustified and unjustifiable, an unprecedented gravity on the economic front,” Vincent Subilia, director of the Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Geneva (CCIG) told Keystone. “The bad news is particularly serious and irrational. It is a glaring injustice,” he said.
“The Geneva economy will be very severely affected, from watchmaking to Medtech via the machine tools sector. We are the second Swiss canton exporting to the United States. This represents some 3.4 billion francs of exports per year,” worries Mr. Subilia.
See under other skies?
Same “cold shower” for the canton of Vaud. “It is a crazy heaviness. It is unreal. It will be unbearable for our exporting economy,” comments Philippe Miauton, director of the Vaudoise Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CVCI). “Our entrepreneurs are all stunned and worried,” he adds.
“The Vaudois economy is very diverse and everyone is concerned. It will therefore necessarily be touched tenfold,” he worries too. “If there is no solution, it will be necessary to think of going to see under other skies, to move productions elsewhere,” he warns.
For the two officials, the ball is now in the camp of the Federal Council. “He will have to take his pilgrim’s stick, redouble fighting and activate commercial diplomacy to obtain if possible concessions,” pleads Vincent Subilia. “It is up to the Federal Council to make the effort, to bring calm to our economy,” continues Philippe Miauton.