Economists: The Swiss Central Bank should not seek to mitigate the impact of tariffs through monetary policy.

On August 20, Jin10 reported that a group of economists stated that the Swiss Central Bank should not seek to alleviate the impact of high U.S. tariffs through monetary policy channels. Swiss exporters are currently caught in a double bind, facing a 39% tariff this month, while the Swiss franc appreciates. Since Trump first announced trade tariffs in April, the Swiss franc has appreciated by about 10% against the U.S. dollar. The Swiss Central Bank Observers organization indicated that while the Swiss Central Bank could drop interest rates or intervene to weaken the currency to provide assistance, both approaches come with costs, uncertainties, and risks. The organization stated in a report on Tuesday: “Any policy intervention would carry inflation risks and trigger a new round of accusations of currency manipulation. In practice, the Swiss Central Bank can hardly alleviate the impact of tariffs effectively without causing other issues.”