Swiss Machine Exports Drop for Fifth Quarter Amid Global Slowing

Components for electronic switches sit ready for assembly at the Schurter AG factory in Lucern, Switzerland, on Friday, May 4, 2018. Industrial production is rising at the fastest pace since before the financial crisis and companies such as Schurter, a maker of electrical components, are seeing sales surge. Gross domestic product figures are expected to confirm the economy is growing apace, with economists predicting 2018 will see the strongest expansion in four years. Photographer: Stefan Wermuth/Bloomberg , Bloomberg

Catherine Bosley, Bloomberg News

Oct 17, 2019

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(Bloomberg) -- Switzerland’s exports of machinery dropped for a fifth straight quarter, a consequence of the trade war-induced global slowdown and the upheaval in Germany’s automobile industry.

Machine and electronics exports dropped by 2.2% in real terms during the three months through September, customs office data showed on Thursday. The outcome is another signal that the Swiss economic momentum is set to lose pace.

As a small, open economy, Switzerland is prone to fallout from troubles elsewhere as well as the strength of the currency, which gets bid up by investors at times of heightened uncertainty.

With trade wars clouding the outlook, the International Monetary Fund said this week that world growth was on track for the weakest expansion since 2009. The Swiss mechanical and electrical engineering industries have flagged a drop in orders.

To contact the reporter on this story: Catherine Bosley in Zurich at cbosley1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Fergal O'Brien at fobrien@bloomberg.net, Craig Stirling

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