President Donald Trump proposed one of the world’s highest tariffs for Switzerland on Thursday night, to a measure that could make the price of luxury goods in the country, as well as precision instruments and medical devices, they shoot if the two countries do not reach an agreement before Thursday.
Trump threatened Switzerland with a 31% tax in spring, something that Swiss leaders already described as “incomprehensible”, before raising the tariff to 39%, one of the highest in the world.
Last year Switzerland exported almost 61,000 million dollars in goods to the United States, approximately one sixth of its total exports.
It is believed that two of the biggest imports of Switzerland, gold and pharmaceutical products will be excluded from the new tariff, but other items such as luxury jewels, coffee capsules, Swiss chocolate and precision instruments are subject to the tax.
Switzerland is home to the best watches manufacturers in the world, such as Rolex, Patek Philippe, Omega, Tag Heuer and Audemars Piguet, as well as the Chocolate company Lindt, the Nespresso Café Nestlé, the manufacturer of Precision instruments Mettler Toledo and the manufacturers of medical devices Alcon and Sonova.
Most of the Swiss watches companies do not quote on the stock market, but the Rolex distributor, Watches of Switzerland Group, which is quoted in the London Stock Exchange, saw its actions fall more than 9% after the news.
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Richemont, owner of the Jaeger-Eleultre and Cartier watches brands, among others, fell 3% on Friday morning and Swatch, the parent company of Omega and Longines, also lowered slightly.
If the guy is maintained, the tariff could still be negotiated before the deadline of August 7, imposed by Trump, and that date could be extended, as Trump has already done. The European Union negotiated a 15% tariff and British products are subject to a tax of 10%.
Trump implemented a broad packet of tariffs through an executive order in April, in what he called the “day of liberation.” He imposed a 10% base tariff on imports from almost all countries and said that specific tariff rates for each country would enter into force on April 9. However, after the collapse of the world market, he suspended the implementation date of April 9 and began individual negotiations. The agreements with commercial partners such as the United Kingdom, South Korea, Japan and the European Union, and Trump have been consolidated, on Thursday night, published a list of specific tariffs for each country, whose entry into force is planned for August 7. The highest proposals were applied to Syria (41%), Laos (40%) and Myanmar (40%), followed by Switzerland, Iraq (35%) and Serbia (35%).
14%. That is the increase that has experienced the price of a yellow gold daytona for US buyers since 2024, according to the Wall Street Journal, and could be much more expensive with the proposed tax.
The United States is the main foreign watch market for Switzerland and exports to the United States have grown 14% per year since 2019, according to the Journal, three times faster than the world average. American collectors are younger than their international counterparts and are more interested in expensive models, particularly those made by Rolex, Patek Philippe and Audemars Piguet. In April, when Trump first announced imminent tariffs, Swiss watches exports increased 18.2% and sending 149% to the United States, according to the Swiss watch industry federation. Exports have fallen every month since then, with a 9.5% drop in May and 5.6% in June, according to the latest available data.
This article was originally published in Forbes US
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