Swiss Neutrality Threatens to Stifle Nation’s Defense Industry

Swiss entrepreneur Peter Huber is shifting most of his defense contracting business to Portugal, as the neutrality of his home nation threatens its arms industry.

To sidestep a Swiss law that doesn’t allow locally made arms to be sent to conflict zones, Huber has expanded Systems Assembling’s operations near Porto, producing cables for armored vehicles and military aircraft. That’s come at the cost of half the 120 jobs at the firm’s Boudry headquarters in the canton of Neuchatel.

“Defense customers only placed new orders with us if we could guarantee that our products were not manufactured in Switzerland,” said ...