Faced with the rise of global trade tensions and the sudden taxation of an American customs right of 39% on a large part of Swiss exports, our country can no longer afford the prudence that characterizes it. If this tradition has long served us, the international economic landscape has changed. We must now adopt a resolutely proactive posture, otherwise we risk sustainable marginalization.
We are the heirs of a success based on opening. Exports represent around 72% of Swiss GDP, a figure that reflects our deep integration in the world economy. But this force masks a fragility: our competitiveness is based on sectors with very high added value (pharmaceutical, watchmaking, precision machines) today directly targeted by American protectionist measures. And it should be emphasized: the American market remains, for many Swiss companies, the only major growing market.
Another point: long perceived as a pillar of our stability, the Swiss franc today becomes a factor of tension. In 2025, despite the repeated interventions of the Swiss National Bank (BNS) on the foreign exchange market, the Franc was still appreciated. These interventions, although motivated by price stability objectives, have aroused new accusations of monetary manipulation by the American Treasury.
This monitors three criteria: a bilateral surplus with the United States of more than $ 15 billion, a current surplus greater than 3% of GDP and an intervention on exchange exceeding 2% of GDP. Switzerland fills the three. It was therefore placed on the American surveillance list in June 2025. The message should be clear for us, Switzerland is now exposed, even isolated.
Our SMEs, spine of our economic fabric, will be the first to suffer from it. Unlike multinationals, they will have neither flexibility nor the means to relocate or reorganize their short -term value chains. The consequences can be rapid, drop in margins, decline in orders, precariousness of employment.
And yet, Switzerland does not always seem to have clear CAP. The prolonged blocking with the European Union complicates any alliance against the United States. Even with the United Kingdom, no structured dynamics exist. We preferred to wait rather than anticipating. Result, neither the EU nor the United States include us in their strategic calculations. We must push for a real sectoral dialogue with the twenty-seven, consolidate our trade relations with the United Kingdom and accelerate the diversification of our outlets, in Asia, the Middle East and Latin America. We must not only multiply our anchor points, but also more clearly claim our strategic alignment with Europe, in order to weigh collectively against the United States.
More than ever, we must act with clarity and determination. The world is just waiting for passive observers to wake up. Switzerland must redefine its interests, defend them firmly, and not with nostalgia.
