The CEO of the company, which said a relocation of production a few days ago was “not an option,” said considering “certain stages” of production in the United States.
The manufacturer of Swiss knives Victorinox plans to relocate part of its production in the United States to reduce the impact of customs duties on its activity, said Carl Elsener, the CEO of the family business, in an interview published in the Wirtschaftswoche economic magazine on Tuesday, August 19.
“We plan to carry out certain chain treatment stages directly on site, such as cleaning and packaging of kitchen knives,” said Carl Elsener.
“This would reduce the value of the goods on which we have to pay customs duties from 10% to 15%,” he added.
Barely a week ago, the CEO of the Swiss knives company still said that “relocating production abroad – in particular for pocket knives – is not an option”.
The Swiss economy undermined by customs duties
The United States has imposed customs duties at the start of the month of 39% on imports from Switzerland, putting the economy of the country with a strong exporter.
The United States is in particular a key market for Swiss watches and chocolate.
Victorinox, which makes kitchen knives as well as its famous pocket knives, generates around 13% of its turnover in the country. American customs duties are added to the difficulties caused by the vigor of the Swiss franc.
“The strength of the Swiss franc has put our competitiveness and our margins under considerable pressure,” Carl Elsener told Wirtschaftswoche.
The CEO, however, added that high Victorinox stocks in the United States guaranteed that customs duties would not affect the group before the start of next year. In 2024, Victorinox achieved a turnover of 417 million Swiss francs (442 million euros at current rate).