Finance
Swiss chemicals maker Sika says US tariffs could lead to higher labour costs
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on February 21, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 26, 2026
Global Banking & Finance Review®
Company
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on February 21, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 26, 2026
Sika's CEO warns that US tariffs could increase labor costs, potentially leading to a 0.5% price rise. Sika's local production minimizes tariff impact.
ZURICH (Reuters) - U.S. tariffs flagged by President Donald Trump could have knock on effects like higher labour costs, leading to price rises to compensate, the head of Swiss construction chemicals company Sika said on Friday.
"From the tariffs there could be some secondary effects, everyone expects there will be some inflation which will affect things like labour costs," Sika's Chief Executive Thomas Hasler told Reuters on the sidelines of a press conference.
"We do not live in isolation, and it's clear that if prices generally go up, then labour could become more expensive," he added.
Sika, the world's biggest construction chemicals maker, could be forced to raise its own prices by around 0.5% to compensate if tariffs push up labour costs, he said, after keeping its prices largely unchanged last year.
Sika produces locally nearly 100% of the products it sells in the United States, its biggest market, and sourced nearly all its ingredients in the United States, he said, meaning it would be less affected by U.S. tariffs than some other companies.
"There may be an impact from tariffs for some, but on us, it's rather limited - we decentralised our supply chain many years ago," Hasler said after the Swiss company reported better-than-expected full-year profit.
"The U.S. is our largest single country with over 40 plants, so we are self-sufficient, and therefore I would say we are rather relaxed," Hasler said.
(Reporting by John Revill; Editing by Dave Graham and Susan Fenton)
Sika's CEO Thomas Hasler indicated that US tariffs could lead to secondary effects such as higher labor costs, which may result in price increases to compensate.
Hasler mentioned that Sika might have to raise its prices by around 0.5% if tariffs push up labor costs.
Sika has decentralized its supply chain, which Hasler believes limits the impact of tariffs on the company.
Sika produces nearly 100% of the products it sells in the United States locally and sources nearly all its ingredients from the US.
Sika is the world's largest construction chemicals maker and operates over 40 plants in the US, making it self-sufficient in that market.
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