Switzerland’s Federal Council has approved the ordinance on the temporary suspension of customs duties on textile input and intermediary materials. This will come into effect on 1 July 2019.
Switzerland’s textile industry is significantly dependent on other countries for raw and intermediary materials for production. The custom duties on these imports are higher as compared to raw materials for other industries. Resultantly, high customs make the finished product expensive.
The Council has positively responded to the request made by Swiss Textiles Association to suspend customs duties on all textile input and intermediary materials. The duty suspension will lead to lower customs revenues of around CHF 3 million annually. This is in line with Swiss Federal Council’s intent to eliminate industrial tariffs.
