Switzerland’s top trade negotiator resigns
State Secretary for Economic Affairs Helene Budliger Artieda has announced she will be stepping down from her post at the end of March 2027.
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Switzerland’s top trade negotiator resigns
The director of the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) intends to take on a new professional challenge, the Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research (DEFR) announced on Wednesday.
Budliger Artieda has been head of SECO since August 2022. The free trade agreements with India and the Mercosur states were signed during her tenure.
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It was also under her leadership that Switzerland and the United States reached an agreement on customs duties in November 2025. The two parties signed a declaration of intent aimed at reducing US import duties on numerous products from Switzerland from 39% to 15%.
Helene Budliger Artieda began her career at the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) in 1985. She subsequently undertook several postings abroad and headed a department within the FDFA, before being appointed ambassador to South Africa and then to Thailand.
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