Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on September 18, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 21, 2026
Add as preferred source on GoogleSwiss exports to the US dropped over 20% in August after Trump imposed tariffs. The decline marked the lowest level since 2020, with Germany becoming Switzerland's top export market.
ZURICH (Reuters) -Swiss goods exports to the United States dropped by more than a fifth in August, the month in which President Donald Trump imposed 39% tariffs on the country, official data showed on Thursday.
When adjusted for seasonal swings, total Swiss exports were down 1% compared to the previous month in nominal terms, and up 2.4% in real terms, according to the Swiss government.
Trump applied the tariffs on August 7, arguing they were justified by the U.S. trade deficit with Switzerland. Certain goods such as pharmaceutical products and gold were exempt.
The United States has been Switzerland's largest single foreign market for goods, and Trump's tariffs caused shock and dismay among the country's export-oriented companies.
Exports to the U.S. dipped in August by 22.1% to 3.1 billion Swiss francs ($3.9 billion) from almost 4 billion francs in July. The data exclude precious metals and stones, works of art and antiques. The decline took exports to the U.S. to their lowest level since the end of 2020, the government said.
The figures showed that an increase in exports to European Union countries and Canada partially offset the U.S. drop. They also showed that Germany in August moved past the United States to become Switzerland's biggest export market.
($1 = 0.7881 Swiss francs)
(Writing by Dave Graham, editing by John Revill)
Swiss exports to the United States dropped by 22.1% in August, amounting to 3.1 billion Swiss francs.
Certain goods such as pharmaceutical products and gold were exempt from the tariffs imposed by Trump.
The tariffs caused shock and dismay among Switzerland's export-oriented companies, as the US has been their largest single foreign market for goods.
When adjusted for seasonal swings, total Swiss exports were down 1% compared to the previous month in nominal terms, but up 2.4% in real terms.
Germany moved past the United States in August to become Switzerland's largest export market.
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