Swiss bosses distance themselves from the United States
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Swiss bosses distance themselves from the United States
According to a survey of executives, Swiss companies are increasingly turning away from the US and orientating themselves more towards South East Asia and the EU.
Almost two-thirds of 280 managers surveyed stated that their image of the United States had deteriorated over the past year. At the same time, 38% rated the EU more positively (compared with 18% who noted a deterioration). South East Asia was also positively rated by 38% – with less than 10% giving negative feedback, according to the Swiss Managers Survey published on Sunday.
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New US tariffs and an increasingly protectionist trade policy are among the reasons for the change in sentiment. Swiss companies are already feeling the effects of these in concrete terms: around 70% describe the impact on the domestic economy as negative. As a result, many companies are focusing on diversification. A quarter are looking into reducing their dependence on US software and cloud services and 5% have already taken this step.
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Despite the growing scepticism towards the US, Swiss managers clearly reject protectionist countermeasures. More than half of those surveyed are against retaliatory tariffs.
The representative survey was conducted jointly by the Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW), the University of Applied Sciences and Arts of Southern Switzerland (SUPSI) and the University of Applied Sciences in the Jura Arc (HE-Arc). In May, they surveyed Swiss companies on how they are dealing with the new US customs policy and its effect on the Swiss economy.
Adapted from German by DeepL/ac
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