{"id":50416,"date":"2026-01-26T10:57:00","date_gmt":"2026-01-26T15:57:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/culturecheesemag.com\/?p=50416"},"modified":"2026-01-29T17:40:42","modified_gmt":"2026-01-29T22:40:42","slug":"american-trump-tariffs-cheese-industry-switzerland","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/culturecheesemag.com\/stories\/american-trump-tariffs-cheese-industry-switzerland\/","title":{"rendered":"Tariff Turmoil: Why America’s Trade Policy Rocked the Global Cheese Industry"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

How the 2025 tariffs have impacted the specialty cheese trade, from European PDOs and importers to American artisan makers and indie cheese shops<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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Over a century ago, this 1908 cartoon by J. Keppler Jr. showed the Republican Party pouring the benefits of \u201cTariff Revision\u201d into the glasses of protected industries while consumers were left empty-handed. Today, similar debates over tariffs continue, as policies designed to shield domestic producers can still drive up prices for everyday shoppers\u2014proving that when it comes to trade, the balance of who benefits and who pays remains a timely question. Image sourced from Wikimedia Commons.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

For the specialty cheese industry, \u201cLiberation Day\u201d was anything but liberating. On April 2, 2025, President Donald Trump issued an executive order implementing a broad set of new tariffs, or taxes on products imported from other countries, dubbing the occasion \u201cLiberation Day\u201d in recognition of what he called the United States\u2019 \u201cdeclaration of economic independence.\u201d The order announced unprecedented tariffs of 10 to 50 percent across a broad range of trading partners, including the European Union, the United Kingdom, and Switzerland\u2014key suppliers of cheese to the US.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat week was easily one of the scariest, most disorienting, disgruntling, disappointing weeks I\u2019ve had in the cheese business,\u201d says Adam Moskowitz, owner of importer Maker to Monger and Larkin Cold Storage in Queens, New York. \u201cThat week felt like our government was operating as the mafia, and to be blunt, it still continues to feel that way.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since then, specialty cheese\u2014not to mention the US and global economies\u2014has been roiled by the fallout. Importers, distributors, retailers, and cheesemakers on both sides of the Atlantic have felt the strain of higher costs, reduced demand, and economic anxiety. Even as regulators have indicated that the highest tariffs will be downgraded sometime in early 2026, 2025 will go down as the year uncertainty became the industry\u2019s new normal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTariffs Are Only One Part of the Problem\u201d<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Starting in the 1950s, the average tariff on all imports to the US hovered between 2 and 4 percent. Until Trump took office, tariffs functioned as a nominal, relatively static fee for specialty food importers\u2014just part of the cost of doing business. Blanket double-digit increases were unheard of.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe supply chain does not like price increases, it surely doesn\u2019t like surprise price increases, and it doesn\u2019t ever allow for immediate price increases,\u201d Moskowitz says. While importers scrambled to react to the changes, the effect on demand was swift. At Larkin, which handles ocean freight imports for around 30 US-based companies, Moskowitz saw a 27 percent year-over-year drop in volume in the period between April and September.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After the financial impact, the most chaotic aspect of the tariffs was the whiplash-inducing way they were implemented. It was unclear whether the new tariffs would be a flat rate or layered on top of existing duties. How much the tax would increase on a given trading partner could change overnight. Tariffs on certain goods or countries would be put on pause. An off-the-cuff social media post from the president could call everything into question. As a result, importers had no idea what they\u2019d have to pay when orders already in transit hit the docks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy team has lost an insane amount of hours trying to understand what our actual cost will be, when new cost increases will take place, and how to navigate and implement that through our various supply chain partners,\u201d Moskowitz says of Maker to Monger. Accounting for tariffs might sound as simple as tacking a surcharge onto an invoice, but the volatile situation made everyday tasks like creating price lists and negotiating payment terms a complicated process with serious stakes: \u201cIf you don\u2019t bill correctly, you lose money.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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An image taken from a 1918 handbook on cheesemaking, illustrating the styles of domestic and imported cheeses. Over a century ago, tariffs shaped which cheeses were widely available and affordable, reminding us that trade policies have long influenced what ends up on our tables. Image sourced from Wikimedia Commons.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Importers have also been up against a weak US dollar, which experienced its biggest drop in value in 50 years during the first half of 2025. This effectively drove up the costs of imports from Switzerland, the UK, and EU countries by nearly 11 percent. \u201cTariffs are only one part of the problem,\u201d says Steve Margarites, president and CEO of Dutch Cheesemakers, which imports and distributes Gouda, Edam, and other varieties under the Artikaas label. \u201cThe exchange rates are worse than the tariffs. Take that and the tariffs and you\u2019ve got a mess.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Switzerland Singled Out<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In May, the UK struck a deal with the US limiting their tariffs to 10 percent. After a threatened 30 percent import fee on most EU products, negotiations brought the number down to 15 percent in late July. But on Aug. 1, the administration announced that Swiss imports would be taxed at 39 percent\u2014higher than the 31 percent proposed in April, and much higher than the temporary 10 percent that held for most of the summer. For businesses specializing in Swiss cheeses, 39 percent felt like a senseless punishment for an unknown transgression.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe whole world is asking, \u2018Why?\u2019 Nobody can give you an answer,\u201d says Caroline Hostettler, an importer whose Adopt-an-Alp program connects retailers to individual Swiss cheesemakers. When the news broke, she, her distributor Forever Cheese, and the producers they work with paused all Swiss imports, feeling the risk was too great to move cheese that would be so much more expensive than other European wheels. \u201cWe didn\u2019t want to bring in cheese and let it rot,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Joe Salonia, who manages US sales for the Swiss company Gourmino, halting shipments was never an option. He spent spring and summer strategizing with the company\u2019s partners, revising promotional plans, and staying in touch with customers through each fluctuation, only for the 39 percent tariff to change everything again. There was no way around it: the company and its importer would absorb what they could of the additional costs, but beyond that, the tariffs would be reflected in pricing. Except for a few special promotions, distributors would have to pay a premium if they wanted Gourmino cheese for the holidays.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a surprisingly positive development, most of them did, with small reductions in more specialized varieties. However, overall, Gourmino has seen lower order volume since the tariffs were implemented. \u201cWe\u2019re maintaining equilibrium, but there\u2019s still a concern with the US market, which is really critical to our strategy,\u201d Salonia says, though the company still has strong sales in other countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hostettler, too, found that after several weeks of hiatus, there was enough demand from retailers to resume Adopt-an-Alp. \u201cWe went back to everyone who initially committed to the program and let them cancel, change, or stick with their order,\u201d Hostettler says, estimating that more than half of the program\u2019s customers moved forward despite the additional cost. \u201cIt was heartwarming to see how many good folks are out there, monger and end consumer-wise.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trickle-Down Tariffs<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Tariffs this steep can\u2019t be absorbed by any one link in the supply chain. As costs increase for importers, they also increase for specialty food distributors, who pass them on to retailers, restaurants, and other wholesale customers. Cheese shops and counters must increase their retail prices in turn to avoid losing money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe cheese industry as a whole seemed to do their best to not react too early,\u201d says Chelsea Lowrie, cheese buyer at gourmet grocer Zupan\u2019s Market in Portland, Oregon. \u201cAt some point around midsummer, everyone just went, \u2018OK, we have to act. We can\u2019t go out of business holding our breath.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By early fall, the imported cheeses in Lowrie\u2019s case cost 10 percent, 15 percent, or nearly 40 percent more than they had weeks before. After doing her best to slowly ramp up shelf prices, there was nothing to do but raise them to reflect her costs\u2014which meant pricing Swiss-made cheeses at an unheard-of $40 per pound across the board.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re a luxury market and I\u2019m a professional cheesemonger. I am not afraid to offer quality products to my quality clientele and have that conversation about why something is worth it,\u201d Lowrie says, citing an analogy she\u2019s been using to explain the Swiss cheese situation to customers. \u201cAll Champagne is Champagne, but there is cheap, mid-range, and high-end Champagne. Imagine that suddenly, Champagne as a category all costs roughly $100 a bottle. That\u2019s a very big switch from a consumer perspective.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Educating consumers about why specialty cheese costs more than commodity blocks has always been a key skill for cheesemongers, but the drastic, tariff-driven increase in shelf prices doesn\u2019t reflect added value, making that task even more challenging.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf we could sustain 15 or 20 or 39 percent more per pound, we should have been paying that the whole time and making sure the cheesemakers were making a better wage for themselves,\u201d says Jessica Galen, who opened Bloomy Cheese & Provisions, a small shop in Dobbs Ferry, New York, in 2022. \u201cInstead, [shop owners are] going to have to pay that, and now they\u2019re in a tougher spot because they\u2019re going to sell less.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With tariffs in the news and grocery prices climbing for both imported and domestic goods, customers\u2019 perception of value can change when it\u2019s time to buy\u2014but that perception isn\u2019t always accurate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cUninformed shoppers are looking more closely at prices, and I hear them saying, \u2018This is too expensive. It must be because of the tariffs,\u2019 when in fact, some of those prices haven\u2019t changed,\u201d says Austin Banach, cheese buyer at Guido\u2019s Fresh Marketplace in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. Ironically, because Guido\u2019s has its own import license and works directly with international producers, they\u2019ve been able to negotiate pricing and promotions to mitigate some of those increased costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cheesemakers at Risk<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Banach has noticed that some customers have shown a new interest in local cheeses and accompaniments, which retailers can sometimes struggle to cultivate when shoppers are more familiar with imported brands. But the Trump tariffs haven\u2019t resulted in booming business for many American artisans or lower prices on domestic cheeses for consumers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Economic uncertainty depresses order volumes of American artisan cheeses, too\u2014which tend to cost more than pre-tariff imported cheeses in the first place. Production costs are also increasing. Cheesemaking ingredients such as cultures and rennet; consumables like cheese paper, plastic, and cardboard; and specialized equipment and machinery come from countries like France, Switzerland, and Canada, with few domestic alternatives. Those higher costs ultimately drive up the retail prices of cheese made by artisans in the US.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur perspective is that any disruption to the specialty food ecosystem is bad for us because it\u2019s bad for our customers,\u201d says Zoe Brickley, the director of communications and e-commerce at Jasper Hill Farm in Vermont. \u201cWhen the system is stressed, costs tend to go up, sales tend to go down, and people are less keen on taking risks and bringing on more expensive products, which is where we dwell.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Jasper Hill, domestic sales aren\u2019t the only variable affected by tariffs. Most US producers who would be considered artisanal aren\u2019t at the scale to export their products to other countries, but Jasper Hill had invested 15 years in building an export market in Australia and began selling products in Canada a few years ago. Though overall US cheese exports remained near record high as of July 2025 per US Dairy Export Council data, much of that was commodity cheese. With tariffs in place and consumer sentiment in those markets shifting, Jasper Hill\u2019s high-end products were the first to go. \u201cThings cooled off with these new trade policies,\u201d Brickley says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Switzerland\u2019s producers are also feeling negative effects. Despite lower orders for cheese, milk kept flowing on the small-scale Alpine dairies that supply the country\u2019s makers. The drop in demand due to high tariffs combined with a particularly good year for milk production led to some Swiss dairy farmers sending healthy, high-producing cows to slaughter early to avoid oversupply.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Image sourced from Wikimedia Commons.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Swiss cheese was hit hardest by US tariffs, with a 39 percent duty in 2025 cutting American imports by roughly 1,000 tons\u2014about a quarter of usual exports\u2014and driving retail prices from $15\u2013$50 to $20\u2013$70 per pound. Image sourced from Wikimedia Commons.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Image sourced from Wikimedia Commons.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

More Confusion for the Holidays<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The 39 percent Swiss tariffs continued through fall as holiday shipments made their way into cheese cases. Then, in mid-November, as grocers geared up for the pre-Thanksgiving frenzy, it was announced that the 39 percent tariff would drop to 15 percent, on par with the EU. (According to news reports, negotiations resumed after a delegation of Swiss executives presented the president with a Rolex desktop clock and a custom-engraved gold bar.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As of press time, however, the lower tariff hasn\u2019t gone into effect\u2014and importers aren\u2019t holding their breath. For Moskowitz, who imports Gourmino cheeses and other Swiss brands, the announcement simply continues the lack of clarity the specialty cheese industry has struggled with for most of 2025. \u201cAs nice as it was to learn this news, at the moment it just creates more confusion and even hysteria because it is not clear when and how the tariff gets reduced,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When exactly would importers stop being charged the higher rate? Would the Swiss tariffs be capped at 15 percent, as EU tariffs were, or be stacked on top of existing duties? Could importers recover their losses after months of reduced sales and margins? \u201cThis news has many people assuming immediate price decreases when it\u2019s possible that the product I purchase does not get this reduced tariff applied until April or May,\u201d Moskowitz says. With shipments taking six weeks to cross the Atlantic, and given the chaos and confusion with which the duties were implemented, it\u2019s impossible to say when importers and their customers will find relief.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Salonia acknowledges the challenge of selling cheese at two very different price levels until the higher-rate product can be moved through. \u201cAs the 15 percent rate takes full effect and we clear through the older 39 percent stock, pricing will steadily move in line with the new tariff structure,\u201d he says. \u201cWe\u2019re not naive to the fact that we\u2019ll eventually have to make some hard decisions on how to price the higher-tariff lots of cheese we hold as we transition.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just as the jump in tariffs filtered down to grocers and consumers, retail prices for Swiss cheeses won\u2019t come back down to earth until their suppliers\u2019 do. \u201cI am already taking a significant margin hit, so I can\u2019t lower prices prematurely,\u201d says Lowrie, speculating that suppliers may be motivated to lower prices on high-tariff product sooner to entice customers\u2014or they could wait longer to be sure that tariffs won\u2019t swing back up again. \u201cI don\u2019t even know what\u2019s worse, the tariffs or the uncertainty.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo One Wins Because of This\u201d<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Tariffs aren\u2019t the only adverse conditions small-scale cheese businesses are navigating right now. Along with the weak dollar, the industry is facing workforce challenges, a 40 percent jump in the cost of commercial utilities since 2020, and widespread inflation that increased the cost of groceries 29 percent between February 2020 and September 2025, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe sad part is that the tariffs are going to be the straw in the truckload full of straws that\u2019s constantly being dropped on every camel\u2019s back in this world,\u201d says Alex Brown, the wholesale cheesemonger at Gourmet Imports in Los Angeles. \u201cI like to think that we will learn how to be resilient in the face of this f\u2014\u2014\u2014 mess, but it\u2019s going to suck.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then there are the localized crises: mass layoffs of government workers in Washington, and communities in Florida still recovering from 2024\u2019s hurricane damage. Even though Sarah Simms only stocks domestic products at Lady & Larder, her shop in Santa Monica, California, she\u2019s feeling squeezed by the higher costs of basic supplies driven by tariffs and inflation, plus the effects of economic and environmental conditions closer to home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn our microclimate of Los Angeles, it has been a gnarly two years. We had writer strikes that the industry has not recovered from,\u201d she says. \u201cThen we had the fires in January, which decimated half the city. It\u2019s been really, really tough.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The prevailing fear is that even when\u2014or if\u2014conditions do improve, some businesses won\u2019t make it through this period of high costs and lower sales. Cheese cases will be less diverse, and community hubs, farmland, and centuries-old foodways will be lost. Small-scale dairy farmers and cheesemakers, whether in the Swiss Alps or the US, are less likely to weather overlapping storms than corporate-owned, large-scale producers. Indie cheese businesses are already endangered: Bedford Cheese Shop in New York; The Cheese Shop of Salem, Curds & Co., and The Grey Barn Farm in Massachusetts; and Old Brooklyn Cheese Co. in Ohio closed in 2025 alone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI feel very sad about it. I\u2019m angry, but I\u2019m also just really, really sad because it\u2019s so pointless,\u201d Galen says. \u201cNo one wins because of this.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For the specialty cheese industry, \u201cLiberation Day\u201d was anything but liberating. On April 2, 2025, President Donald Trump issued an executive order implementing a broad set of new tariffs, or taxes on products imported from other countries, dubbing the occasion \u201cLiberation Day\u201d in recognition of what he called the United States\u2019 \u201cdeclaration of economic independence.\u201d The order announced unprecedented tariffs of 10 to 50 percent across a broad range of trading partners, including the European Union, the United Kingdom, and Switzerland\u2014key suppliers of cheese to the US.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121,"featured_media":50444,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"wprm-recipe-roundup-name":"","wprm-recipe-roundup-description":"","cybocfi_hide_featured_image":"yes","footnotes":""},"categories":[26354],"tags":[],"coauthors":[33960],"class_list":["post-50416","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-stories"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nTariff Turmoil: Why America's Trade Policy Rocked the Global Cheese Industry | culture: the word on cheese<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"For the specialty cheese industry, \u201cLiberation Day\u201d was anything but liberating. 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