Swiss stocks decline as officials head to the U.S. to negotiate tariffs

Swiss stocks declined on Wednesday as the country’s President and economic minister were meeting U.S. government officials in an attempt to lower the 39% tariffs imposed by President Trump.

The Swiss Market Index fell 0.9% despite a broadly positive trading session for European equities.

The Stoxx Europe 600 index closed flat. Regionally, the FTSE 100 closed up 0.2%, CAC 40 rose 0.2% and Germany’s DAX was higher 0.3%.

Speaking to CNBC’s “Squawk Box Europe” this morning, Karsten Munk Knudsen, chief financial officer of Novo Nordisk, responded to U.S. President Donald Trump’s threat to slap 250% tariffs on pharmaceuticals.

Knudsen noted that the Danish pharmaceutical giant was “already investing a lot in the U.S.,” with a $4 billion expansion project underway.

“When we’re filling cartridges and putting it into pen devices, that’s predominantly U.S. manufacturing for U.S. patients, so that’s already in place,” he said.

“And then on the active ingredients [in weight loss drugs Ozempic and Wegovy], we are actually exporting more from the U.S. than we’re importing in terms of volumes. So the trade balance, if you can call it that, is actually in a rather good place, and putting Novo Nordisk in, I think, a better place than many other pharmaceutical companies.”

The Stoxx Europe Pharmaceuticals and Biotechnology index was last seen trading 1.8% lower, a day after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to impose tariffs of up to 250% on the pharmaceuticals sector.

Swiss pharmaceutical giants Novartis and Roche were 3.2% and 2.3% lower, respectively, by 11 a.m. in London (6 a.m. ET), while Merck was 1.1% lower and Britain’s GSK shed 0.8%.