Swiss companies have already invested about $27 billion in the US economy since the beginning of 2026, trying to fulfill obligations to the Donald Trump administration and avoid new protective tariffs. However, as NZZ am Sonntag writes, Washington continues to threaten Bern with additional tariffs.
Between January and April, Swiss businesses pumped $27 billion into the U.S. economy, part of a larger pledge to invest $200 billion over five years, according to an internal Swiss American Chamber of Commerce (Swiss Amcham) letter obtained by the newspaper. The corresponding agreement was enshrined in a joint statement by Switzerland and the United States on November 14 last year.
Previously, the Trump administration threatened Switzerland with 39 percent tariffs, but after preliminary agreements the tariff was reduced to 15%.
Leading Swiss corporations were among the largest investors. Pharmaceutical company Novartis is building a biomedical research center in San Diego and a cancer drug manufacturing facility in Texas. Roche is expanding production in North Carolina, and medical device maker Ypsomed is opening a new plant in the state.
It's not just the pharmaceutical industry that's making investments. Geneva-based shipping company MSC opened a new North American headquarters in Miami in January, while investing in the American cruise and logistics sector. Swiss industrial companies Pfiffner Group and Elma are also expanding production capacity in the United States.
However, despite large-scale investments, relations between Washington and Bern remain tense. Last week, the United States announced new tariffs against countries that, according to American authorities, are not doing enough to combat the use of forced labor. Because Switzerland does not have an outright ban on the import of goods produced using forced labor, the country is placed in the higher tariff category. For Swiss goods the rate may be 12.5%, while for the European Union it is 10%.
In addition, the US accuses Switzerland of having “excess industrial capacity” and using this advantage in export trade. Donald Trump has repeatedly criticized countries with positive trade balances with the United States. Back in January, at the World Economic Forum in Davos, he said that Switzerland “got rich thanks to America.”
The Swiss industrial association Swissmem considers such claims to be unfounded. The organization's vice director, Jean-Philippe Kohl, noted that Switzerland does not use subsidies to artificially stimulate industry and does not protect the domestic market with high tariffs.
At the same time, experts doubt that economic arguments can influence Washington’s position. According to Kohl, the United States is primarily looking for reasons to introduce new duties.
“There is a risk that things will end very badly for Switzerland if the parties fail to reach a trade agreement in time,” he warned.
Swiss authorities do not officially disclose the details of negotiations with the United States. The head of the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs, Helen Budliger Artieda, said Bern was committed to compromise, but “this must be a mutual process.”
In turn, Swiss National Council member Franz Grüther called on the government to more actively seek an agreement with Washington and publicly highlight the scale of Swiss investment in the American economy.
