Category Archive: 3.) Swissinfo Business and Economy

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Swiss foreign trade sluggish in October

2025-11-20

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2025-11-20

Switzerland's international trade stagnated in October, on both the export and import sides, reflecting the uncertainties weighing on the global economy. +Get the most important news from Switzerland in your inbox However, the watchmaking industry rebounded for the first time since July. In the month under review, seasonally adjusted exports stagnated at CHF22.53 billion, representing …

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Novartis extends mid-term growth targets

2025-11-20

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2025-11-20

Novartis is extending its medium-term outlook by one year. Over the period 2025-2030, the Swiss pharma giant aims to achieve annualised, currency-adjusted growth of around 5 to 6%, compared with more than 6% over the period 2024-2029. +Get the most important news from Switzerland in your inbox Management is aiming to restore the core operating …

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Explainer: Will Swiss supermarkets be inundated with cheap, hormone-filled beef after US tariff deal?

2025-11-20

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2025-11-20

The US has reduced tariffs on Swiss exports from 39% to 15% but has wrangled duty-free access for American meat, fish and chicken in return. Should Swiss consumers be worried? The announcement on August 1 of a 39% tariff on all Swiss imports into the United States sent shockwaves through Switzerland. It came as a …

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Trump and the Epstein files, UBS speculation, and nuclear tests

2025-11-19

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2025-11-19

Welcome to our press review of events in the United States. Every Wednesday we look at how the Swiss media have reported and reacted to three major stories in the US – in politics, finance and science. The big political news in Switzerland this week was the announcement on Friday of a trade deal with … Continue...

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Switzerland misses transalpine freight targets

2025-11-19

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2025-11-19

The shift of transalpine freight traffic from road to rail in Switzerland has stalled in the last two years. +Get the most important news from Switzerland in your inbox The access routes are slowing down. The Federal Council is therefore lobbying neighbouring countries for rapid modernisation. The modal shift target of 650,000 lorry journeys set …

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How Switzerland lost – and regained – its beer

2025-11-19

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2025-11-19

For decades, the Swiss beer market was dominated by a cartel. Its collapse ushered in a period of upheaval and innovation. Twenty-five years ago, on November 3, 2000, Swiss public television SRF announced news that would change Swiss brewing forever: Danish beer giant Carlsberg had taken over Feldschlösschen, then Switzerland’s largest brewer, for CHF870 million …

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Swiss army knife maker relieved by US tariff cut

2025-11-19

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2025-11-19

The CEO of Swiss army knife maker Victorinox as reacted with relief to the reduction in United States tariffs on Swiss products to 15%. +Get the most important news from Switzerland in your inbox This creates a more manageable framework for exports, Carl Elsener told the AWP news agency on Wednesday. Thanks to this reduction, …

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Swiss Stadler Rail creates 200 US jobs

2025-11-19

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2025-11-19

Swiss train manufacturer Stadler Rail is expanding its factory in the United States, creating some 200 new jobs in Salt Lake City. +Get the most important news from Switzerland in your inbox This brings the company's total US workforce to almost 800, it told AWP on Wednesday. Demand in the US continues to grow, particularly …

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Online investment scams on the rise in Switzerland

2025-11-19

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2025-11-19

The number of online investment scams has risen sharply in Switzerland since the start of the year. +Get the most important news from Switzerland in your inbox Cyberthieves are impersonating celebrities to gain the trust of their victims, according to a government report. During the first six months of 2025, the number of cyber incidents …

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French court rejects immediate Nestlé Perrier ban

2025-11-19

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2025-11-19

Nestlé may continue to sell Perrier in France as natural mineral water for the time being. A court in Nanterre has rejected a temporary ban on sales requested by consumer protection organisations. +Get the most important news from Switzerland in your inbox The judgement, which is available to the news agency AWP, rejected all of …

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Timeline: How US President Trump upended the pharma industry in 2025

2025-11-18

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2025-11-18

United States President Donald Trump’s planned tariffs on pharmaceuticals have disrupted the industry. Here’s a timeline of developments affecting this sector since he came into office in January 2025. Traditionally opaque negotiations for drug prices have left Americans paying two to three times more for patented drugs than Europeans do on average. US President Donald …

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US trade deal forces reckoning for Swiss pharma powerhouse

2025-11-18

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2025-11-18

Swiss pharmaceutical companies are planning massive investments in research and manufacturing in the United States as part of a deal to secure lower tariffs. But this isn’t the only force fuelling anxiety about the future of Switzerland’s pharma dominance. The Swiss pharmaceutical sector had reason to celebrate on Friday when the government announced a trade …

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Big Pharma steps up race for AI-discovered drugs

2025-11-18

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Send us a text (https://www.buzzsprout.com/twilio/text_messages/910414/open_sms) What if the most valuable drug candidates aren’t found but designed on demand? We follow a chemist’s journey from a pencil-and-paper notebook to generative algorithms that propose novel, IP-free molecules tailored to specific targets, and we open the door to how Swiss pharma is rebuilding discovery around AI. To read more about this topic...

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Swiss Federal Railways to extend night train service trial in 2026

2025-11-17

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2025-11-17

Swiss Federal Railways is adapting its national rail timetable on December 14 and plans to introduce a night train service on the Bern-Zurich-Winterthur route. +Get the most important news from Switzerland in your inbox Federal Railways tested this night-time link on several weekends in spring and autumn, the CH-Media newspaper group reported on Monday. It …

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Swiss watchmaking: Breitling boss welcomes US tariff cut

2025-11-17

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2025-11-17

The recent decision to lower US tariffs on Swiss imports from 39% to 15% is particularly good news for the watch industry, says Georges Kern, head of the Breitling luxury watch brand. +Get the most important news from Switzerland in your inbox The new deal shows that "Team Switzerland", with the support of the Swiss …

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UBS chair talked to Scott Bessent about moving bank to US

2025-11-17

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2025-11-17

UBS chair Colm Kelleher and US Treasury secretary Scott Bessent have privately discussed moving the bank’s headquarters to the US, as the Zurich-based lender explores contingency plans to leave Switzerland if the government does not back down on new capital rules. Kelleher and Bessent held talks in recent months about what a move to the …

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US tariff negotiations reaffirm Switzerland’s role as a gold hub

2025-11-17

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2025-11-17

Refined gold was a major part of the negotiations that saw United States tariffs on Switzerland lowered to 15%. Here's how the Swiss came to dominate the sector. It is difficult to fathom the enormous quantity - and value - of gold that arrives in Switzerland every year. In 2023, Switzerland imported approximately 2,372 tonnes …

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Q3: Swiss GDP falls amid global slowdown, tariff shock

2025-11-17

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2025-11-17

The Swiss economy has felt the full impact of the introduction of 39% US tariffs in August and the slowdown in the global economy. An initial estimate shows a contraction in gross domestic product (GDP) from July to the end of September. +Get the most important news from Switzerland in your inbox GDP shrank by …

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Why Switzerland’s patent office spends tens of thousands on nuts

2025-11-17

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2025-11-17

The Swiss Federal Institute of Intellectual Property (IPI) buys nuts for its staff. The reason: to promote a fit mind. Anyone working at the IPI needs a sharp mind – employees there regularly have tough nuts to crack. For example: The IPI oversees patents, trademarks and designs in Switzerland. It fights product piracy, counterfeiting and …

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Average Swiss monthly household income in 2023 was CHF7,186

2025-11-17

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2025-11-17

The average disposable income of Swiss households was CHF7,186 ($9,040) per month in 2023. It therefore remained stable compared to previous years, the Federal Statistical Office (FSO) said on Monday. +Get the most important news from Switzerland in your inbox But the FSO stressed that not all Swiss households will have this amount of money …

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