Bern said Washington is still adhering to a November 2025 joint statement, while Economiesuisse warned the new duties leave Swiss exporters at a disadvantage versus the EU and Britain.
Switzerland said it had taken note of additional U.S. tariffs but rejected the allegations behind the forced-labor investigation used to justify them. Tariffs of up to 12.5% on Swiss imports took effect on July 24, while the Swiss government said the United States was still adhering to a joint statement from November 2025. Business lobby group Economiesuisse said the U.S. move was neither understandable nor justified, arguing there was no evidence Swiss supply chains were being used to smuggle goods made with forced labor into the U.S. market. The group added that forced labour is already banned in Switzerland under constitutional, civil and criminal law, and said the higher tariff rate raises export costs without removing uncertainty tied to an ongoing Section 301 investigation (U.S. trade probe) into alleged industrial overcapacity.