President Donald Trump has confirmed that Switzerland will be hit with one of the highest rates in the world, taking effect from 7 August. The US is the world’s largest market for Swiss watches.
The industry has expressed concern that high tariffs could lead to job losses. Rolf Studer, CEO of Oris, told Hodinkee that a tariff set this high could cripple the industry.
“The U.S. is our biggest market these days. It would be brutal. That is clear,” Studer explained.
“A 10 per cent tariff we could handle, but 39 per cent is prohibitive. It means you are locking large parts of the Swiss industry out of the US.”
Some Swiss watch brands and companies, such as Rolex, Richemont, and Swatch Group, have already raised prices in the US in response to the 10 per cent tariffs on Swiss imports.
A report by The New York Times revealed that the increase had caught Switzerland’s business community by surprise.
“The Swiss were already indignant about Mr Trump’s initial threat, in April, to levy a 31 per cent tariff on their goods,” writes Liz Alderman.
“When the White House announced revised rates late on Thursday, the Swiss were shocked to see that already steep rate raised further. Many other tariffs were maintained or lowered somewhat by Mr Trump’s revisions.”
Similar concerns have been highlighted around the impact of US tariffs on the diamond trade and India.
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