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«They hate our beef because our beef is beautiful. And theirs is weak“(” They hate our oxen because it is beautiful. Theirs is weak “): taken from an interview given in April by Howard Lutnick, the American Secretary of State for Trade, the sentence perfectly illustrates the resentment of the American authorities in the face of the lack of interest of Europe for their meat, in particular that treated with hormones.
If the European Union has given up since 1989 to import hormones meat, Switzerland authorizes it, provided it is labeled. According to figures from the Federal Customs Office, in 2024, Switzerland imported 125 tonnes of American beef treated with hormones, out of a total of 262 as part of the tariff contingent. Small quantities could be imported outside this quota, which is why the figures of the interprofession of the meat sector, Proviande, differ slightly. However, they confirm the little interest of Swiss consumers for American steak, treated or not: Proviande has 284 raw tonnes imported from the United States in 2024, against 6593 from Austria or 5488 from Germany. Note that the majority of the meat consumed in Switzerland is of native origin (about 80% according to Proviande).