The President of the United States, Donald Trump, is imposing a 31 percent tariff on Swiss luxury products and advanced machinery – far above the already high 20 percent that the EU is being penalized with. The news from Washington came as a cold shower at the chocolate festival Festichoc, which was held in Geneva over the weekend.
Julie Jammes at the chocolate factory Canonica, with several stores including in San Francisco, is uncertain about the future of chocolate pralines in the USA.
We're waiting a bit before deciding how to react, but it's a clear shock for us, he says.
The only thing that has kept pace – or more – with the Trump administration's tariff hikes is the price of cocoa.
The bean is mainly grown in the Ivory Coast and Ghana. Poor harvests, climate change, and political unrest have caused the price to skyrocket: from around 20,000 kronor per ton in 2022 to 120,000 kronor last December.
But there is a small bright spot for chocolate: since December, the price of cocoa has dropped to 82,000 kronor per ton on Monday.
