Swiss watch exports in the USA explode in April
Due to their commercial surplus with the United States, Switzerland was imposed by the Trump’s reciprocal tariffs of 31 percent before they were suspended for 90 days. This triggered great concern with the watch industry, which has to produce its watches in Switzerland in order to be able to wear the valuable label « Made in Switzerland », the Association of the Swiss watch industry on Tuesday.
These fears were reflected in an « exceptional increase in programs to the USA », as the watch association said in a press release.
Mixed tendency
This increase in shipments to the United States led to the total export of the watch industry in April by 18.2 percent to CHF 2.5 billion (CHF 2.7 billion).
Without these massive deliveries to the United States, watch exports would have decreased by 6.4 percent in April, emphasized the watch association, which spoke of a « mixed tendency » in the other markets.
The United States is a key market for Swiss watch manufacturers.
In April, exports to the United Kingdom rose by 1.6 percent, to France by 4.8 percent and 1.9 percent after Japan, while they went back to China by 30.5 percent in the other major markets in Asia and by 22.8 percent.
The United States is a key market for Swiss watch manufacturers. Last year, exports to the United States rose five percent to CHF 4.37 billion, which contributed to alleviating the decline in Chinese demand for luxury goods.
The Swiss watch manufacturers have had four years with strong growth in the United States, a market that has overtaken China and Hong Kong by 2021 and will then be their most important export goal.
Commercial talks run
The tariffs in the United States therefore give the industry to great concern. However, Switzerland tries to negotiate with Washington.
In mid-May, the Swiss Federal President Karin Keller-Sutter and Minister of Economics Guy Parmelin met again on the sidelines of the negotiations with China in Geneva with US Finance Minister Scott Bessent and the trade officer Jamieson Greer, after they had come together in Washington for the first time at the end of April.
