A Swiss machine maker cuts jobs, caught between China slowdown and tariffs

Now he is one of 80 out of 105 staff being let go as it reels from weak demand from automakers and U.S. tariffs.

The company, which makes million-dollar machinery used for parts production at carmakers and other industries, is at the sharp end of a tough European car market that has been buffeted by U.S. President Donald Trump's trade tariffs and a slowdown in key export market China.

The sector slump has hit carmakers and industrial firms hard in manufacturing regions like Germany, where many of Pfiffner's European customers are. Part of Taiwanese-owned FFG, Pfiffner was already struggling before Trump announced the tariffs in August, which dashed the firm's U.S. orders.

"The announcement that we almost had to close here hit like a bomb," said Norbert Steuer, 59, a veteran of over three decades at the firm in the village of Utzenstorf, near Bern, his future suddenly in jeopardy.

"I still have no idea what's going to happen next," he added. "People are talking everywhere about hiring, but whether a 59-year-old is still needed is the uncertainty that's really bothering me personally right now."

Switzerland is grappling with 39% U.S. tariffs that have dented its export sector. For Pfiffner, the tariffs may have been a hammer blow.

"I was flabbergasted," said Pfiffner CEO Andreas Ewald, who was partly educated in the U.S. and worked there for over two years, noting that after a steep decline in the dollar against the Swiss franc this year, the company's products are now nearly 50% more expensive for U.S. customers.

Hopes rose this week that Switzerland could be on the verge of securing lower U.S. tariffs, which could save jobs at Pfiffner. But the market environment and persistent uncertainty are eating away at employment at the company.

Pfiffner's plant has produced high-tech machinery for over 50 years, and is one of the main employers in Utzenstorf.

But on the vast factory floor where it makes rotary transfer machines - huge devices costing between 1-3 million Swiss francs ($1.3-3.8 million) - staffing has thinned out as work dwindles.

Pfiffner's losses have been challenging for Utzenstorf, Ewald said. "I have to look all these people in the eye every day in the village," he added.

Staff say planning ahead is difficult due to legal challenges against the U.S. tariffs or the possibility that Trump might reduce them.

Switzerland's official jobless rate is still low at 3%, but it has crept up from under 2% in early 2023. Mechanical and engineering firms lost 5,600 jobs year-on-year in the second quarter and industry group Swissmem says the sector could shed 30,000 jobs by the end of 2026 if tariffs remain.