Confederation expects welfare gains after customs duties are lifted
Published: Tuesday, Jan 2nd 2024, 10:40
Zurück zu Live Feed
The State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (Seco) expects the abolition of Swiss customs duties on industrial products to result in a total annual welfare gain of over CHF 860 million. Seco announced on Tuesday that the abolition would implement a significant trade policy measure for the Swiss economy.
Based on the trade figures from 2016, the effect is made up of direct customs duty savings for companies of around CHF 490 million at the time and savings of around CHF 100 million. There would also be indirect effects such as productivity gains for companies of around CHF 270 million. Based on Swiss imports in 2022, the direct customs savings in the meantime even amounted to around CHF 600 million, the report continued.
Switzerland will no longer have import duties for industrial products from January 1, 2024. The abolition of industrial tariffs was approved by Parliament in October 2021 in the form of an amendment to the Customs Tariff Act. The abolition of industrial tariffs strengthens Switzerland as a business and industrial location by reducing the financial and administrative burden on companies and consumers, Seco continued.
In Switzerland, industrial products include both intermediate inputs for production processes such as capital goods, raw materials, salt, semi-finished products and machinery as well as consumer goods such as bicycles, clothing and shoes. All agricultural products are not considered industrial products.
Meanwhile, the federal government does not envisage any direct compensation measures for the loss of customs revenue. However, according to the studies carried out, it can be assumed that the reduction in customs duties will lead to higher economic output and higher tax revenue for the state, which should compensate for around 30 percent of the loss of customs revenue in the medium term, Seco continued. From an overall economic perspective, the positive effects would clearly exceed the expected loss of income for the Confederation.
©Keystone/SDA
German 
English 
French 
Spanish 
Arabic