Import taxes will no longer be applied to industrial products: Everything will be cheaper now!

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Inflation everywhere! Switzerland continues to suffer from rising costs and high prices.

However, there is also positive news at the beginning of the year. Some products will become cheaper as industrial products can be imported into Switzerland duty-free as of January 1, 2024.

350 million savings to consumers

The State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (Seco) expects a “general welfare gain” of over 860 million francs; The customs savings alone amount to approximately 490 million francs. Companies also benefit from less administrative effort as well as cheaper inputs and raw materials for their own production.

Consumers also need to benefit from this. Using model calculations, Seco calculated a -0.1 percent decline in consumer price levels across all sectors. “This would correspond to potential savings of 350 million francs per year for consumers,” Seco spokesman Fabian Maienfisch told Blick.

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The federal government will monitor impacts on prices of affected products. The results will be announced within two years. Blick has already conducted research in many sectors.

“The removal of import tariffs has the biggest impact on textile prices of all products,” says Peter Flückiger (47), director general of the Swiss Textile Association. Customs duties on textiles and ready-made clothing amounted to over 300 million francs in 2022; This averaged around 5 percent of the purchase price. Flückiger expects a price reduction of slightly less than 5 percent: “Since the clothing industry is under huge competitive pressure, most of the customs savings will be passed on to consumers.” Thanks to the removal of import tariffs, customers of wholesalers and retailers were finally able to benefit. Small shipments from abroad and purchases made by consumers abroad were already duty-free.

Bicycles are also getting cheaper. Frank Aeschbacher (57), CEO of Swiss e-bike retailer M-way, confirms this: “M-way is passing on the relief brought by the removal of import duties to its customers.” The price of an e-bike consists of the individual parts and components installed. “This means we can sell better equipped e-bikes for the same price.” M-way purchases most of its products from companies based in Switzerland and expects cost savings to be reflected from them.

“The increase in VAT comes at the expense of shoe retailers’ margins, so shoes are not becoming more expensive,” says Sandra Schneider of the Swiss Footwear Association. There isn’t much to save on shoes: since the majority of shoes purchased by association members are European made, no industrial duty has been levied so far. Thanks to the trade agreement, shoe imports from China are also duty-free. “According to one dealer, removing the industrial tax amounts to about 17 cents,” says Schneider.

Diego de Pedrini (51) from the Association of Domestic and Commercial Electrical Appliances welcomes the reduction in industrial tariffs: This will benefit consumers in the form of price reductions. But concrete effects on the final price are difficult to predict: “It is worth noting that tariffs are measured by weight and constitute a relatively small part of the final price for complex technical products such as household appliances,” says Pedrini. . The customs price for the dishwasher was previously 19 francs per 100 kilos, so a new unit would be around 9 francs cheaper.

Source :Blick