The Confederation did not “miss” the 10 % agreement with the United States. It has left to bury. And the names of two federal councillors now appear to be at the heart of the deadlock: Ignazio Cassis and Beat Jans. Today's debate is no longer a polemic, but rather a a question of major political responsibility.
🇨🇭 Customs duties at 10 %: has the Confederation sabotaged its own opportunity?
Source: NZZ, 1 December 2025 - Switzerland-United States, parliamentary enquiry into internal manoeuvring
The Confederation could have secured a historic trade agreement with the United States with 10 % of customs duties. But it did not. Not for lack of opportunity, but because internal blocking. Alfred Gantner's revelations and the opening of a parliamentary enquiry now confirm what many people suspected: this dossier was not slowed down by chance.
EU compatibility“ invented to delay the dossier
According to Gantner - who was part of the delegation in Washington - the Confederation, like the United Kingdom before it, had the opportunity to rapidly conclude an advantageous tariff agreement with the United States.
Why wasn't this done?
Because two departments have chosen to examine the alleged “compatibility” between a Swiss-US agreement and European Union law:
-the FDFA of Ignazio Cassis,
-Beat Jans' DFJP.
This approach is legally unfounded.
The Confederation is a sovereign state.
It is not bound by any clause requiring the prior compatibility of its bilateral agreements with European standards.
Bringing the EU into the discussion was therefore a political choice - not a legal constraint.
Cassis and Jans: a potentially very serious liability
If the facts are confirmed, Ignazio Cassis and Beat Jans will bear a heavy political responsibility.
Because this is not just an administrative report or a “technical issue”.
This is the potential blockage of a strategic agreement :
-with the world's leading economic power,
-at a time of growing trade tensions,
-At a time when Switzerland is already suffering from international competition and excessive European regulations.
If the Confederation has lost several months - and perhaps the agreement itself - because two federal councillors deliberately inserted a European filter into a purely bilateral negotiation, then this is a politically serious act :
-A serious threat to the Confederation's commercial sovereignty,
-This is a serious blow to our international credibility,
-a serious blow to our economy.
The FDFA: an apparatus that has become Euro-centric
What emerges from the revelations is that the FDFA has become the bastion of a vision of the future. European-integrationist of Swiss foreign policy.
An administrative apparatus that reflexively assesses every strategic decision not according to the Confederation's direct interests, but according to its “alignment” with Brussels.
This institutional bias shaped the internal reaction:
instead of moving forward, we're “checking Brussels”.
The result: we lose time, we lose influence, we lose opportunities.
Parliamentary enquiry could change everything
Parliament has extended its terms of reference until 14 November 2025.
Alfred Gantner will be auditioned.
Internal scores will be examined.
And the question becomes a burning one:
Who exactly put on the brakes? On what grounds? At what point? And for what real political objective?
For if the Confederation has allowed a strategic agreement to pass in the name of anticipated loyalty to European law, then we are touching on a systemic problem:
an executive who pre-integrated Switzerland without a popular mandate.
Conclusion - The Confederation owes its people some answers
This is not a technical issue.
It is not diplomatic.
It is existential.
If the parliamentary enquiry confirms that the departments of Cassis and Jans deliberately put the brakes on the 10 % agreement, then we will be faced with a major political error :
that of having sacrificed a vital national interest on the altar of a non-mandated European alignment.
The Confederation must now provide a clear response:
is it still working for a sovereign Switzerland?
or for a future anticipated integration into the European normative system?
The truth is out.
And it could be explosive.
🇨🇭 Without funding, there can be no resistance. Support Swiss Sovereignty now:
https://souverainete-suisse.ch/faire-un-don/
I choose freedom, neutrality and direct democracy - I join Swiss Sovereignty to defend Switzerland's independence. To join : https://souverainete-suisse.ch/devenir-membre/