Swiss pharmaceuticals powerhouse Roche announced that it would invest $50bn (around €47bn) in the United States over the next five years, creating 12,000 jobs.

The announcement comes as US President Donald Trump has urged foreign businesses to invest more in the United States, and announced sweeping tariffs earlier this month on imports as part of his hopes to reduce a large US trade deficit when it comes to sales of goods.

The Basel-based company, like cross-town competitor Novartis, has deep ties to the US market with more than 25,000 employees, 15 R&D centres and 13 manufacturing sites.

Roche said in a statement that the investment would go toward high-tech research and development sites and new manufacturing facilities in places including California, Indiana, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania.

The firm’s array of products include cancer medicines and multiple sclerosis treatment Ocrevus.

Tariff announcements put companies under pressure

Before the Trump administration backed off its most stringent tariff plans, products imported from Switzerland had been set to face tariffs of 31% — more than the 20% tariffs on goods from the European Union. Switzerland is not a member of the 27-country bloc but is virtually surrounded by four EU countries.

Trump’s sweeping “Liberation Day” tariffs on 2 April set off turmoil in world stock markets. A week later, Trump spoke by phone with Swiss President Karin Keller-Sutter in a conversation that her office said focused on tariffs. She emphasised the “important role of Swiss companies and investments in the United States.”

Hours later, the US president announced the U-turn that paused the steep new tariffs on about 60 countries for 90 days, fanning speculation — which was not confirmed — in some Swiss media that her chat with Trump might have played a role in the change of course.

What Roche is planning in the US

Besides new R&D centres, the company is building a “state-of-the-art gene therapy manufacturing facility” in Pennsylvania and another manufacturing centre to “support Roche’s expanding portfolio of next-generation weight loss medicines at an unnamed location, among others.

Roche said that once the new, expanded manufacturing comes on-line, the company “will export more medicines from the US than it imports” — though it made no mention of tariffs.

“Today’s announced investments underscore our longstanding commitment to research, development and manufacturing in the US,” Roche CEO, Thomas Schinecker, said in a statement.

The planned investment will add 1,000 jobs at Roche in the US and “more than 11,000 in support of new US manufacturing capabilities,” it said, which will increase its footprint in the United States to 24 sites in eight states.

Roche tallied more than 60bn Swiss francs (€64.3bn) in worldwide sales last year, and nearly 25bn francs (€26.8bn) of sales in its key pharmaceuticals division alone came in the United States. 

Roche’s share price has fallen by about 18% over the past month, with most of the drop coming after the US tariff announcement on 2 April.