Swiss dairy sector out of balance due to Trump

The Swiss dairy farming and dairy industry have been thrown out of balance by the 39% import duty imposed by American president Donald Trump. Only 15% of Swiss cheese goes to the US, but there is still a crisis among Swiss farmers, the milk price has plummeted, and an emergency fund is to provide relief until June 2026. Swiss dairy farmers have had a tougher year even without Trump, as, like in many other European countries, Swiss milk production has also been quite larger than normal this year. The import duties that Trump imposed on July 31 worsened the problem. While only a limited volume of all Swiss cheeses goes to the United States, according to the Swiss 15%, this export was, until then, very lucrative, as the Americans paid well for Gruyère, Emmental, and other premium Swiss cheeses. Moreover, this export also ensured that the Swiss value creation model stayed nicely in balance. The Swiss dairy farming and dairy industry carefully coordinate through a very own milk price model and allocation of milk streams to ensure that the production system remains balanced and that farmers continue to receive high milk prices. Balance disrupted Now that balance is gone and everything is falling apart. In the short term, 25,000 of the half a million Swiss cows may have to be sent to slaughter, and in the long term possibly as many as 85,000. The milk price is also plummeting, sometimes to as low as 30 cents, a price that is considered very low even in the lowlands in the west. Emergency fund To restore some balance, Interprofession Lait has set up an emergency fund with currently 16 million francs in cash (over €17 million). This fund supports the export of 2000 tons of butter, 2000 tons of cream, and also chocolate and other products containing a lot of dairy. Products are also temporarily stored/frozen, waiting for better times. The package runs until June of next year. What happens after that remains to be seen. Extra painful for the Swiss producers of Gruyère cheese is that French Gruyère, made in Franche-Comté, is not affected by Trump's import duties.