Have tariff dominoes stopped falling, or just started? President Trump’s aggressive tariffs continue to upend global relationships—with some of the steepest fallout landing in unlikely places. Switzerland, long betting on its neutrality, was slapped with a 39% US levy—by far the highest in the developed world—a bitter surprise after Swiss officials expected leniency. The drama, chronicled by The Economist and NYT, has forced Zurich to seek urgent talks with pharma giants Roche and Novartis about future production and export strategies.
Meanwhile, Trump is pressing China to quadruple soybean orders from the US ahead of a tariff truce deadline—an ask that analysts flatly call “highly unlikely”. The stakes are huge: China, the world’s largest soybean importer, took in only about a quarter of its supply from American farmers last year, with most coming from Brazil. Chinese buyers are already test-buying from Argentina, signaling they won’t be easily pressured. If trade posturing hardens, both American exporters and global supply chains could feel the pain.
