Tariff Hit on Swiss Only Kicking In, Swiss Re’s Mueller Says

(Bloomberg) — Switzerland will face fallout from US tariffs including on pharmaceuticals, starting now and going into 2026, according to Charlotte Mueller, European chief economist at Swiss Re AG.

Mueller voiced dissent when asked about Swiss National Bank President Martin Schlegel’s stance that Switzerland is in for stability and moderate growth as the levies only affect a small part of exports.

“We would disagree,” she told Bloomberg Television on Wednesday. “There is certainly a negative impact.”

On pharmaceutical tariffs, Mueller said that many key Swiss medicine producers already have production in the US, which limits the effect the new levies — which President Donald Trump announced last week, complementing a 39% surcharge on many other Swiss goods — have on them.

“In practice, maybe the tariff impact won’t be as large,” she said. “But overall still, I think there is an impact on Switzerland.”

Separate PMI data published Wednesday showed that the manufacturing sector’s slump intensified in September, with the factory gauge falling to 46.3 points from 49 in August.

“The dry spell, which has persisted since January 2023, reflects the diverse challenges industry has faced over the past 2 1/2 years — most recently, global trade policy disruptions,” UBS said in a statement.

(Updates with PMIs in final two paragraphs)

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