Swiss SME sentiment remains stable despite steep US tariffs

Despite US tariff hammer: Swiss SME sentiment remains stable Keystone-SDA

Despite the high US tariffs, the mood among Swiss SMEs has hardly deteriorated. However, two thirds of export-oriented companies have now adjusted their export strategy, with one in ten even questioning it as a whole.

The mood among small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Switzerland is stable despite the high US tariffs, according to the study “Raiffeisen Economic Pulse: The Voice of SMEs” published on Thursday. For example, the assessment of the current economic situation has not changed. There was also hardly any deterioration among export-focused companies.

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“This confidence is astonishing in view of the challenging situation,” Philippe Obrist, Head of Corporate Clients at Raiffeisen Switzerland, is quoted as saying in the press release. Over the years, companies have learnt to deal with upheavals such as the US tariffs, he concludes.

As part of the Raiffeisen study, 500 companies with 10 to 249 employees were surveyed before and after the August tariff announcements by American President Donald Trump.

Diversification in foreign business

According to the survey, SMEs had already started to move away from the US immediately after the first tariff announcement in April. According to the survey, two-thirds of SMEs operating abroad had already adjusted their export strategy by July.

Following the 39% tariff blow they intensified their search for alternatives to the US once again. A quarter of companies now wanted to focus on other markets. In July, this figure was only 17%. About 22% were also looking for new sales markets and 11% had opened new plants or subsidiaries abroad. At the same time, the EU market is becoming more important for Swiss companies.

“Companies are diversifying their foreign business where possible in order to reduce their dependence on the US,” Obrist continued. The Swiss market is also becoming more important. A fifth of the companies surveyed want to focus more on the domestic market.

More and more companies are also doing without foreign business altogether. In August, this figure was already 13% compared to 9% before the second tariff announcement in August.

Adapted from German by DeepL/ac

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