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Strategy
How to fight high US tariffs with strategic navigation
In the face of 39% tariffs for Swiss companies, while many struggle with reactive approaches, Carlos Cordon proposes eight proactive strategic paths to tariff optimization.
The era of “flat earth” globalization with minimal trade barriers has ended. Since August 2025, Switzerland faces a 39% US tariff rate – the highest imposed on any developed nation – while Mexico intends to implement 50% tariffs on Chinese automobiles. Consumers face an overall average effective tariff rate of 17.9%, according to analysis released by Yale’s Budget Lab in late September. This is the highest since 1934 and represents a dramatic shift from an average effective rate of 2.3% at the end of 2024 (J.P. Morgan) both unprecedented challenges and strategic opportunities for companies willing to adapt their operational and financial frameworks.
Swiss companies, traditionally benefiting from minimal trade barriers, now confront a complex tariff landscape that demands sophisticated management strategies. The financial implications are stark: for Swiss watchmakers, a 10% tariff translates to approximately a 3% consumer price increase, meaning the current 39% tariff could drive consumer prices up 12-14% – or equivalently reduce profit margins if absorbed internally. Yet within this challenge lies competitive advantage for companies that master tariff optimization while their competitors struggle with reactive approaches.
The challenge: high tariffs after decades of minimal duties
For decades, major economies maintained minimal tariff barriers – the US averaged 2.5% duties and the EU maintained similar levels. In this low-tariff environment, customs optimization simply wasn’t economically justified for most companies.
Companies now discover they’ve been overpaying customs duties not through negligence, but because optimization was previously unnecessary. In the new high-tariff environment, standard customs declarations often include costs that can be legally excluded, creating immediate opportunities for savings. This occurs because customs and transfer pricing functions developed independently when duties were minimal, missing integration opportunities that now deliver material benefits.
“Swiss companies are implementing sophisticated value chain analysis to identify excludable costs.”
The opportunity: optimizing marketing and value-added costs
The foundation of tariff optimization lies in understanding that customs duties apply only to the transaction value of imported goods, not the full commercial value delivered to end customers. Under World Trade Organization customs valuation rules, numerous cost categories can be legally excluded from the customs valuation base.
Research and development costs undertaken in the importing country, domestic marketing and advertising expenses, post-importation technical support and training services, and warranty obligations all represent excludable elements. The key principle: if a cost element doesn’t directly contribute to bringing the specific imported goods to their importation condition, it may qualify for exclusion.
Swiss companies are implementing sophisticated value chain analysis to identify excludable costs. The approach requires segregating dutiable from non-dutiable elements at the contract and purchase order stage, using objective and quantifiable data for all adjustments, and applying reasonable apportionment methods consistent with accounting principles.
Consider the implications for a Swiss luxury goods company: if 30% of the declared customs value represents marketing, brand development, and post-sale services that could be excluded, the effective tariff rate drops from 39% to 27% on the actual product value – a reduction equivalent to 12 percentage points of customs duty. For a company importing $100m annually, this represents $12m in potential savings.
Companies achieving this separation report duty reductions of 15-30% on their effective tariff rates.
Eight strategic avenues for systematic tariff optimization
1 – Tariff code reclassification through strategic product modification
Product classification represents a direct path to tariff reduction, with modifications sometimes yielding reductions of 10–25 percentage points. The Converse sneaker case demonstrates the potential: by adding felt fabric covering more than 50% of the shoe sole, the company reclassified products from athletic shoes (20% duty) to slippers (6% duty), achieving a reduction of 14 percentage points.
For Swiss precision instrument manufacturers, classification opportunities often arise between different instrument categories. Medical devices can potentially qualify under therapeutic appliances (HS 9021) with preferential rates, or measuring instruments (HS 9027) with different duty structures.
Similarly, Swiss pharmaceutical companies are analyzing whether certain products qualify as pharmaceuticals (often duty-free) versus cosmetics or health supplements (which carry higher duties), based on product formulation and intended use documentation.
2 – Value chain analysis to exclude non-essential costs
Swiss companies are implementing comprehensive cost segregation methodologies, leveraging their detailed manufacturing documentation to demonstrate which costs relate to importation versus domestic value-addition.
The technical requirement involves maintaining separate accounting for: core product manufacturing costs, intellectual property licensing fees, post-importation services, marketing and brand development, and distribution and logistics. Companies achieving this separation report duty reductions of 15-30% on their effective tariff rates.
3 – Business model transformation from products to services
Since tariffs apply to products but not services, companies are systematically unbundling service components from product sales. This strategy proves particularly effective for Swiss precision equipment manufacturers and pharmaceutical companies with substantial service components.
Industrial equipment companies are implementing maintenance-as-a-service models, transforming equipment sales into service contracts with embedded product access. Technology companies are adopting subscription models that emphasize software licensing and ongoing support rather than hardware sales. The approach requires restructuring customer contracts to clearly separate product and service elements while ensuring the commercial substance supports the accounting treatment.
4 – Transfer pricing optimization with customs alignment
The intersection of transfer pricing and customs valuation creates both opportunities and risks. Swiss companies are implementing integrated strategies that optimize total tax liability – combining customs duties with corporate income tax – rather than managing each in isolation. This requires sophisticated modeling because lower customs values may increase taxable income in the importing jurisdiction.
Best practices involve using the “first sale for export” method where applicable and implementing formula-pricing approaches that satisfy both customs and tax requirements. The strategy demands coordination between customs and transfer pricing teams early in the planning process.
5 – Supply chain reconfiguration for tariff arbitrage
Harley-Davidson’s strategic response to tariff pressures demonstrates systematic supply chain optimization. Facing 100% tariffs in India (subsequently reduced to 30%), 31% EU tariffs (at the beginning of 2025) on US-made motorcycles, and complex Brazilian import barriers, the company established assembly operations in multiple jurisdictions to serve specific markets locally.
The company’s Thailand facility, operational in late 2025, serves Asian markets while avoiding US-specific tariffs. The Brazil assembly plant eliminates import tariffs while accessing lower labor costs. This geographic diversification enables market-specific optimization while maintaining quality consistency across facilities.
Swiss companies are implementing similar strategies. Pharmaceutical companies are creating “local production for local consumption” models, some of them planning to export more medicines from the United States than it imports, effectively creating a trade surplus.
6 – Product redesign for tariff base minimization
The most sophisticated approach involves redesigning products specifically to minimize tariff exposure while maximizing service components. This “design-first” philosophy creates adaptive modular designs enabling component substitution based on tariff changes, localization-optimized designs meeting target market requirements, and assembly location flexibility.
7 – Building compelling business cases for customs authorities
Proactive engagement with customs authorities enables companies to secure formal approvals for valuation methodologies, reducing audit risk and ensuring consistency. The process requires comprehensive cost breakdowns demonstrating dutiable versus non-dutiable elements, commercial justification for cost allocations, independent validation of arm’s length pricing, and integration with accepted accounting principles.
These rulings provide certainty and legal protection for specific valuation approaches. The investment in detailed documentation and professional customs counsel typically generates returns of 10-20 times the investment cost through reduced duties and eliminated penalties.
8 – Systematic consultation for regulatory compliance
The most successful companies establish ongoing relationships with customs authorities rather than reactive audit responses. This involves participating in voluntary compliance programs in the United States, engaging in regular dialogue through industry forums, utilizing binding tariff information systems in the EU, and implementing periodic compliance reviews. The approach also requires maintaining detailed documentation for statutory periods (three to five years), implementing automated compliance monitoring systems, and developing real-time compliance dashboards. Companies report that proactive engagement reduces audit frequency and improves audit outcomes when they occur.
Cross-functional expertise requirements demand organizational transformation
Effective tariff management requires unprecedented coordination across traditionally separate functions. The most successful implementations involve teams with expertise spanning customs and tariff regulation, corporate tax and transfer pricing, supply chain and procurement, accounting and financial reporting, product design and engineering, marketing and commercial strategy, and legal and regulatory compliance.
Organizational design principles emphasize centralized coordination with distributed execution. Leading companies establish enterprise-wide tariff management offices with cross-functional decision-making authority, direct reporting to C-suite leadership, and integration with enterprise risk management frameworks.
The technology infrastructure requires Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system integration enabling real-time duty calculation, supplier portal integration for certificate collection, automated classification engines with expert system logic, and scenario analysis capabilities for policy changes.
The longevity of current tariff levels remains uncertain, but the structural shift toward increased trade protectionism appears durable.
Executive concerns about tariff durability require strategic hedging
The longevity of current tariff levels remains uncertain, but the structural shift toward increased trade protectionism appears durable. The Biden administration maintained most China tariffs from the previous Trump era, Mexico’s aggressive new tariff policies target Chinese imports through 2025, and Trump’s statements suggest potential escalation of EU tariffs and Swiss pharmaceutical duties within 18 months.
Switzerland’s diplomatic efforts continue, but early results suggest limited success. The August 2025 US-Swiss conversation, where Trump cited a $40bn trade deficit (the actual net deficit including services is $8.21bn, per usafacts.org), indicates that factual accuracy may not drive policy decisions. This reality demands strategic hedging rather than hope for rapid policy reversal.
Companies should model multiple scenarios including tariff escalation to 50-75% levels, expansion of tariffs to currently exempt categories like pharmaceuticals, and implementation of reciprocal tariff systems with additional trading partners. The strategic response involves building optionality without over-investing in permanent changes, maintaining flexibility for rapid strategy shifts, and developing capabilities that provide competitive advantage regardless of policy direction.
Swiss companies are implementing this approach through phased investment strategies – immediate compliance optimization, medium-term operational adjustments, and long-term structural transformations activated only when policy durability becomes clear.
Most importantly, they will recognize that in the new tariff environment, strategic advantage flows to those who master complexity rather than those who hope for its elimination.
The competitive imperative for strategic tariff management
We are witnessing the end of the “flat earth” era of international trade, during which minimal barriers enabled straightforward global optimization strategies. The new environment rewards companies that develop sophisticated tariff management capabilities while penalizing those that treat customs as administrative overhead.
However, the challenge faced by Swiss companies creates opportunity for those willing to invest in comprehensive strategies. Early movers are already achieving reductions in effective tariff rates through integrated approaches combining classification optimization, cost exclusion, business model transformation, and supply chain reconfiguration.
The companies that emerge stronger from this transition will be those that treat tariff management as a core competency rather than a compliance burden. They will integrate customs optimization into product design, supply chain architecture, and commercial strategy. They will develop organizational capabilities spanning multiple functions and maintain proactive relationships with regulatory authorities. Most importantly, they will recognize that in the new tariff environment, strategic advantage flows to those who master complexity rather than those who hope for its elimination.
The transformation from passive tariff acceptance to active tariff optimization represents one of the most significant competitive opportunities available to multinational corporations today. Swiss companies, facing the steepest tariff disadvantages, have the strongest incentive to lead this transformation – and the greatest potential gains from successful implementation.
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