The decision of the US President, Donald Trump, to impose a 39% massive tariff causes a re -evaluation of the acquisition of American fighter aircraft, Politico wrote on Monday.
The command of 36 F-35 fighter jets risks becoming a victim of Trump's commercial war against Switzerland, against the backdrop of Bern's political opposition to the defense agreement worth billions of francs.
The negative reaction comes from the decision of the US leader to impose on Swiss exports a 39%customs duty, the highest ever applied to a developed country and more than double than that imposed on the European Union.
F-35 aircraft, produced by the American company Lockheed Martin, were to be delivered to Swiss air forces during 2027-2030.
Switzerland opted in 2021 for F-35 hunting aircraft to the detriment of the French model Dassault Fafale, which upset the French President Emmanuel Macron at that time, according to the press reports. Internally, the project of 6 billion francs was approved at the limit in a referendum, with 50.1% of votes, a very small margin for a military acquisition of this magnitude.
Then the bad news came. Last month, Washington informed Bern that aircraft could cost over 1 billion francs more than they were expected. And, unlike other fixed -price European contracts, the American external military sales framework does not offer price guarantees.
Bern states that Switzerland and the US have agreed on a firm price in 2022, of just over 6 billion francs (6.4 billion euros today) for these Lockheed Martin Fighting Fighting aircraft.
F-35 aircraft “have now become a political problem”
“The US guarantees that only buyers as Switzerland pay in the same conditions as the American army,” said Balthasar Glättli, a deputy of the Swiss Green Party, in an e-mail sent to the public of Brussels. “But these prices can continue to increase, especially now, when the components imported to the US are affected by rates,” he added.
The Green Party of Switzerland submitted an official motion in the Parliament to cancel the F-35 aircraft order earlier this year. The motion, presented by Glättli in March, claims that the United States has become an uncertain security partner and that Switzerland should consider a “sovereign alternative” aligned to European partners.
The decision regarding the taxes imposed on Switzerland, listed by Polito as “a tariff bomb”, increases skepticism towards American fighters.
“The F-35 fighter aircraft has now become a political problem,” said Hans-Peter Portmann, a liberal legislator with the country's president, Karin Keller-Sutter, for the Swiss press.
“In the current situation, we cannot simply continue as if nothing had happened. The question is whether we should pull the emergency brake,” Portmann said. “Either we accept a loss and we terminate the contract, or we only accept the deliveries for what we have already paid, we stop the following delivery tranches in the US and we complete the defense gaps with acquisitions in Europe. This must now be carefully examined,” he said.
Switzerland “is in shock”
So far, the Swiss government has not changed its position. “The Federal Council has repeatedly stated that it remains faithful to the F-35. If we did not do so, we would not have air defense,” said Keller-Sutter.
But the rates change the way of thinking.
“The country is in shock,” said Oscar Mazzoleni, professor of political science at the University of Lausanne. “For many reasons, the Swiss considered themselves a privileged ally of the US. Like London, Switzerland, for example, represents the US in Iran at the diplomatic level,” he said.
The teacher added that the customs tariff imposed by Trump “will produce effects that are currently unpredictable, given that a repositioning to the US and an EU approach.”
Switzerland is not the only one who reconsider the purchase of F-35 aircraft.
Last week, Spain excluded the purchase of F-35 aircraft, confirming that it will choose between the Eurofighter model, manufactured in Europe, and the so-called Future Combat Air System (FCAS), a Franco-German project with Spanish industrial participation.
Portugal also begins to have doubts about these fighter jets.
After Trump threatened to annex Canada and impose tariffs, Ottawa also began to reconsider his purchases of F-35 aircraft, although a recent military analysis concluded that it is logical to buy American aircraft.
In May, the Swiss government has officially recommended the Parliament to reject the Green Motion. Glättli, however, stressed that it is still valid. The green is pressured for the measure to be included on the agenda of the next parliamentary session, which will take place on September 9-26.
Asked to comment, American giant Lockheed Martin transmitted: “Military sales to foreigners are transactions between governments, and this issue is best addressed by the US government or Switzerland.”
