Business
Trump tariffs: Swiss companies target alternative export markets
Imogen FoulkesBern, Switzerland
AFP via Getty ImagesPresident Trump’s tariffs have caused shock worldwide, with governments scrambling to find a deal to placate him. Some have managed: the UK got in first, with a sweet deal of just 10%, the European Union crept in behind with 15%.
Still more than they were paying before Mr Trump’s “liberation day”, but less than they had feared.
Spare a thought then for Switzerland, which has been hit with punitive tariffs of 39%, and has so far been unable to persuade the US president to relent. Switzerland is not in the EU, so it can’t benefit from the deal struck by Brussels.
But Switzerland is regularly ranked as the world’s most competitive and innovative economy. It is also one of the biggest investors in the US, creating, Swiss business leaders say, 400,000 jobs. That’s why they find the US strategy not only outrageous, but inexplicable.
“Thirty nine percent tariffs: I was just shocked,” says Jan Atteslander, director of international relations for the Swiss business federation Economiesuisse.
“This is unjustified, you can’t explain why they are so high.”
Getty ImagesSince the tariffs (the highest in Europe and the fourth-highest worldwide) were announced on 1 August, the Swiss government has been desperately trying to renegotiate with Washington, to no avail. The US president, it seems, has moved on to other matters.
Around 17% of all Swiss exports go to the US, a market Switzerland cannot afford to lose overnight. Now that the tariffs have come into effect, the once muscular Swiss economy is suffering. Economic growth is shrinking, and job losses in key industries appear inevitable.
Switzerland’s most lucrative exports to the US are pharmaceuticals. Ironically, they are not affected by the 39% tariffs, but might be subject to the 100% tariff on imported medicines that Trump recently threatened. That would be another huge blow.
Another big Swiss exporter to the US is Switzerland’s world-leading medical technology industry.
“It’s precision mechanics, it has its roots in the watchmaking industry,” explains Adrian Hunn, who is managing director of Swiss Medtech, the trade body representing the industry.
MPSThe town of Biel, the historic home of Swiss watchmaking, and now the site of medical technology companies, demonstrates why there may be no winners, but only losers, from Washington’s tariff policy.
The company MPS (short for micro precision systems), produces medical instruments from aortic valve replacements to the tiniest of surgical drills, used in hip or knee replacements. Just the kind of things a wealthy country with an ageing, and increasingly overweight population – like the US – needs.
So precise is the production process, that even the machines used to produce the devices are made and specially calibrated locally.
“It’s a very integrated way of working,” explains MPS’s CEO Gilles Robert.
“Measuring equipment, milling tools, cutting liquids. That’s why we call it an ecosystem that we have here in Switzerland.”
Mr Robert’s proudest product is the engine for the world’s only medically-registered artificial heart.
Just 120 of them have been transplanted worldwide. “It’s a pump that will pulse in both sides, to create beating in both chambers, and allow people currently waiting for a transplant, people with terminal heart deficiencies, to keep on living.”
Technology like this is very different from the car industry, where, often, the brakes are made in one country, the windscreen wipers or door handles in another, and everything is assembled in a third.
That’s why Mr Robert is not convinced that Trump’s stated strategy of moving production to the US could work.
“It would be extremely challenging if not impossible to separate the components from the actual product assembly,” he says. “And I think those types of skills would be extremely hard to find in the US.”
MPSTrump has said the countries hit with tariffs will “eat them”. So can MPS absorb the 39%?
“They had the best price before the new tariffs came into effect,” says Mr Robert.
“We don’t have the leeway to give a discount to our customers, because the margins are already as low as they can be.”
Instead, says Adrian Hunn of SwissMedTech, “Medical devices will get more expensive for US patients.”
And he adds, probably for US taxpayers as well. “Costs for hospitals and healthcare systems in the US in many cases are funded by public reimbursement programmes, and this means taxpayers bear the burden.”
Perhaps even more worrying for patients, since some high precision medical devices are made only in Switzerland, is the possibility that Swiss companies will stop exporting to the US altogether.
“These are companies that have very good products,” says Jan Atteslander of Economiesuisse. “And they have told us, we just stopped delivering, sorry guys.”
Mr Atteslander and Mr Hunn agree with the Swiss government’s strategy of not retaliating to the US tariffs. Switzerland’s David, the thinking goes, cannot realistically take on America’s Goliath.
But the Swiss are actively chasing other markets. A trade deal with India – “the fastest growing economy on the planet, 1.4 billion potential consumers,” Mr Atteslander points out – came into force on 1 October.
An agreement with South American trade block Mercosur has also just been concluded, Switzerland’s longstanding trade deal with China is being upgraded, and free trade with the EU, the market for 50% of all Swiss export, remains intact.
So although the US tariffs are already damaging the Swiss economy, and some still cling to hope that Trump may change his mind, there is also a quiet confidence that Switzerland will, if it has to, weather this storm.
“To be a successful export nation, you have to have resilience in your DNA,” says Mr Atteslander.
The more long-term damage may be to the traditionally good business relations between the two countries. In Switzerland, there is a real feeling of hurt. The US wasn’t just an important market: the Swiss loved doing business there.
Many thought they had found entrepreneurial soulmates, more oriented to the free market than their more regulated partners in the EU. Now, both Adrian Hunn of SwissMedTech and Gilles Robert of MPS have abandoned that notion – for now at least.
“I lived six years in the US, so I was very close,” says Mr Hunn.
“I have a lot of friends there. So, this, it didn’t change my view of America, but it did change my view, you know, of how the current administration in the US is acting globally, and treating allies.”
“I studied a year in the US,” says Mr Robert.
“It had an impact on me, on my way of looking at the world. How you can take risks, be an entrepreneur, and be positive about the future.”
But, he adds hopefully: “Even though I’m sad about this situation, we will overcome, we’ll find solutions, and I’m sure in the end reason will prevail.”
Stocks in London ended little changed on Friday, with blue chips edging lower after notching another record as investors held fire ahead of the long weekend in the US.
“Investors have been kept on their toes year-to-date with non-stop geopolitical issues, and mixed messages from the business world. A quieter day on the corporate reporting calendar gave investors a chance to catch their breath and take stock of events,” said Dan Coatsworth, head of markets at AJ Bell.
The FTSE 100 index closed down just 3.65 points at 10,235.29. It had earlier hit a new intra-day best level of 10,257.75.
The FTSE 250 ended up 31.39 points, 0.1%, at 23,311.37, and the AIM All-Share closed just 0.27 of a point higher at 804.75.
For the week, the FTSE 100 rose 1.1%, the FTSE 250 climbed 1.2%, and the AIM All-Share advanced 2.1%.
In European equities on Friday, the CAC 40 in Paris closed down 0.7%, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt ended 0.2% lower.
“There was a slightly negative tone across European stock indices on Friday,” commented David Morrison, senior market analyst, at Trade Nation. “It appeared that investors were more comfortable taking some risk off the table, no doubt mindful that US markets will be closed on Monday for Martin Luther King Day.”
In London, the FTSE 100 was pegged back by weak mining stocks, a key factor behind recent index strength.
The price of copper fell 3.0%, and silver slumped 3.7%, giving up some recent gains, while gold nursed less severe falls.
Gold was quoted at 4,594.24 dollars an ounce on Friday, down from 4,616.76 on Thursday.
In response, Endeavour Mining fell 2.7%, Anglo American declined 2.4%, Antofagasta dipped 2.9%, and Glencore fell 2.5%.
Strategists at Bank of America downgraded the mining sector to ‘underweight’ and lifted energy to ‘market weight’.
“After sharp outperformance for mining, the potential downside risks stemming from the sector’s macro drivers are becoming hard to ignore,” BofA said.
BofA noted that a historical divergence in commodity prices has led to a decoupling among European resources with a surge in metal prices over recent months, including a 50% rally in copper, alongside a “roll-over” in energy prices, with the oil price down 30% to four-year lows recently.
As a result, the copper-to-oil ratio has risen close to a 40-year high, which in turn has led to significant divergence between European resources sectors, with mining outperforming by 40% since April, while energy has underperformed by nearly 15%.
“Resources sector pricing looks stretched in both directions,” BofA added.
Brent oil traded higher at 64.48 dollars a barrel on Friday, up from 63.55 late on Thursday.
Pearson ended a miserable week for investors, with a further 4.1% decline.
The educational publisher has seen its shares fall 12% this week after a poorly received trading update.
A previously undisclosed contract loss for US student assessment in New Jersey, which will drag on first-half growth, was blamed for the stock fall, although analysts note Pearson is confident that the loss of the contract will have no bearing on other renewals in the coming years.
Heading higher were property companies British Land and Land Securities, up 1.4% and 1.3% respectively, on hopes lower interest rates will spark a sector upturn, while BAE Systems, up 2.3%, remained in favour amid geopolitical jitters.
Stocks in New York were little changed. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was slightly lower, while the S&P 500 index was up 0.1%, as was the Nasdaq Composite.
Economic data showed that US industrial production rose faster than expected in December.
The Federal Reserve said that on a monthly basis, industrial production increased by 0.4% in December, the same pace as in November, which was revised up from 0.2%. It was better than the FXStreet-cited consensus of a 0.1% uptick.
On an annual basis, total industrial production was 2.0% higher in December than a year prior.
Shannon Glein, analyst at Wells Fargo, said the underlying details show a “key theme from last year – everything high-tech and AI related outperformed”.
“We expect this trend to persist going forward, but it’s also worth noting that the slow yet steady ascent in all other industrial production on a year-ago basis is a sign that broader activity may be starting to recover,” she added.
The pound was quoted lower at 1.3382 dollars at the time of the London equities close on Friday, compared to 1.3388 on Thursday.
The euro stood at 1.1596 dollars, lower against 1.1607.
The yield on the US 10-year Treasury was quoted at 4.21%, widening from 4.16%. The yield on the US 30-year Treasury was quoted at 4.82%, stretched from 4.78%.
Back in London, Genus led the FTSE 250 risers, advancing 7.8%, after reporting that adjusted pretax profit for the six months to December 31 would be about £50 million, ahead of expectations.
Berenberg pointed out it was “the second guidance raise in the past three months, making it one of the standout performers within our coverage”.
“Importantly, the upgrades are being driven by strong trading in the PIC (pigs) business, which reflects the benefits of the group’s shift towards a royalty-driven model. This is increasing the defensiveness and predictability of earnings and sets a very positive tone for a year that we believe has more positive catalysts to come”, the bank added.
The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 were BAE Systems, up 47.0 pence at 2,088.0p, NatWest, up 13.8p at 652.8p, Smiths Group, up 50.0p at 2,612.0p, Schroders, up 8.6p at 467.0p and National Grid, up 20.5p at 1,201.5p.
The biggest fallers on the FTSE 100 were Pearson, down 39.6p at 939.0p, Entain, down 23.8p at 703.0p, Antofagasta, down 105.0p at 3,560.0p, Endeavour Mining, down 110.0p at 3,996.0p and Glencore, down 12.4p at 478.6p.
Monday’s global economic calendar features a slew of data from China, including GDP, retail sales, and industrial production.
In Canada, inflation figures will be published, while US financial markets are closed for Martin Luther King Jr Day.
Monday’s UK corporate calendar has a trading statement from building materials firm Marshalls.
Later in the week, trading statements are due from luxury goods retailer Burberry, sports retailer JD Sports Fashion and miner Rio Tinto.
Contributed by Alliance News.
Car-sharing firm Zipcar has confirmed it is stopping operations in the UK after launching a consultation late last year.
The move will hit the company’s roughly 650,000 drivers across the country.
On December 1, the US-based company told customers in the UK that it planned to suspend new bookings temporarily at the turn of the year.
The business, which had 71 UK employees at the end of 2024, launched a formal consultation with staff as a result.
On Friday, in a fresh email to customers, the business said it “can now confirm that Zipcar will cease operating in the UK”.
The company added: “In accordance with clause 7.5 of the member terms, please take this as your written notice that we will formally close your account in 30 days’ time.
“It’s not possible to make any new bookings with Zipcar UK at this time, but your account will remain open until February 16.”
It added that customers will be entitled to a pro-rated refund for any remaining periods on current plans or subscriptions, from the start of 2026.
Zipcar said this will be done automatically and will not require any action from users.
Accounts showed that the van and car hire firm saw losses deepen to £5.7 million in 2024 after a decrease in customer trips.
New Delhi: Good news for investors and market watchers! Even though February 1 falls on a Sunday this year, the Indian stock markets will remain open for trading on Budget Day. Both the BSE and NSE announced on January 16 that trading will take place as per normal market hours on February 1 for Budget 2026. This special arrangement ensures that investors can react to Budget announcements in real time, without waiting for the next trading session.
The NSE clarified the special trading arrangement in a circular, stating, “On account of the presentation of the Union Budget, members are requested to note that Exchange shall be conducting live trading session on February 01, 2026, as per the standard market timings (9:15 am-3:30 pm),” said NSE in a circular.
Union Budget 2026 to be presented on February 1 at 11 am
The Union Budget for 2026 will be presented at 11 am on Sunday, February 1, the Lok Sabha Speaker confirmed on January 12. In recent years, February 1 has become the fixed date for the annual Budget presentation, a trend that continued with the 2025 Budget as well. The upcoming Budget will also be a significant milestone for Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, as it will be her ninth consecutive Union Budget, placing her among finance ministers with the longest uninterrupted Budget tenures.
Trading details for Budget Day explained
While most core market segments will remain open during regular trading hours on Budget Day, some services will stay shut. The BSE has clarified that the T+0 settlement session and the auction session meant for settlement defaults will not be operational. At the same time, the NSE confirmed that trading in capital markets and derivatives will continue as usual.
Stock market holiday list remains the same
The stock market holiday calendar for 2026 remains unchanged, with Indian exchanges observing 16 public holidays apart from weekends. The next scheduled market closure this month will be on January 26. In the first half of the year, markets will remain shut on key occasions such as Holi (March 3), Ram Navami (March 26), Mahavir Jayanti (March 31) and Good Friday (April 3). Trading will also be suspended on Ambedkar Jayanti (April 14), Maharashtra Day (May 1) and Bakri Id (May 28).
In the second half of the year, markets will close on Muharram (June 26), Ganesh Chaturthi (September 14), Gandhi Jayanti (October 2), Dussehra (October 20), Diwali Balipratipada (November 10) and Guru Nanak Jayanti (November 24). Christmas, on December 25, will be the final market holiday of 2026.
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