The arbitrarily imposed US tariffs suddenly make the EU look more reliable for Switzerland. The SVP cannot like that.
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A strange state that impresses Switzerland with persistence high tariffs and thus could plunge the federal export economy into an existential crisis. One should think that this scenario would be a feast for the SVP. A party that is otherwise rarely referring to pithy words. In the customs dispute with the USA, the SVP is reserved for once. It was only on Thursday afternoon that the party sent a first communiqué; With the demand that the Federal Council must now take measures to relieve the economy. And to the USA and President Donald Trump? No critical syllable.
From partner to the opponent of Switzerland
“The SVP currently seems to be trapped in its own ideology,” says political scientist Michael Hermann, head of the Sotomo research institute. In the past, many exponents of the party had been positive about Trump and could not get rid of it anymore. This is similarly assessed by Oscar Mazzoleni, political scientist from the University of Lausanne. «In the SVP, many saw themselves connected to the USA of Donald Trump; And many also believed that this was based on mutuality. » But now the sheet has turned within a few days and Trump had become the opponent of Switzerland from the supposed partner.
SVP President Marcel Dettling is to blame for many of the high tariffs-except Donald Trump.
Keystone / Alessandro Della Valle
“The whole thing has accepted an impressive dynamic,” says Hermann. The SVP, which has been in a permanent high since the 2023 elections, has now come back on the defensive for the first time. “With her position, to keep Trump loyalty, they do not catch the mood among the population at all.” Surveys have shown that Trump is not particularly popular with the SVP basis, and that a broad majority of the Swiss thinks that Switzerland’s politics is a shame in Switzerland.
At the same time, it is obvious why the SVP Donald Trump does not want to talk bad. “The greater the distance from the USA, the closer the EU suddenly moves,” says Hermann. And making the contract package with the EU fail is one of the most important goals of the SVP in the next few years.
Is the SVP now focusing on migration again?
Mazzoleni says whether the attitude of the SVP in the customs dispute with the United States in the next elections will have a negative impact on the party in the next elections. “In all the years in which I watch the SVP, she has already turned out of many crises.” If economic growth in Switzerland actually stagnates due to the high US tariffs or even a recession occurs, it could also turn around, use the crisis and specify immigration as a reason.
Hermann suspects that the SVP in the future – instead of the EU – will again be increasingly turning to its second core theme that migration. “The party will probably focus even more on its 10 million initiative,” says Hermann. Because if the SVP gain this vote, the free movement of people would be questioned. This would be a great obstacle to a successful contract with the EU.
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