Swiss watch exports resumed their long slump last month after a brief respite the previous month triggered by the easing of US tariffs.
Exports fell 3.6 percent last month from a year earlier to 1.9 billion Swiss francs (US$2.5 billion), the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry said yesterday. Watches in the most expensive category made from precious metals led the decline.
It is a setback for an industry that was upended last year due to US President Donald Trump’s punitive tariffs.
Photo: EPA
US tariffs on Swiss watches were reduced to a 15 percent flat rate, effective retroactively from Nov. 14 last year, from a sharp increase to 39 percent earlier in the year, which heavily impacted the industry.
The lower tariffs from November boosted exports the following month, but the value of watches sent to the industry’s biggest market still slumped 14 percent in the latest figures.
Overall, watches priced above SF3,000 were down 8.1 percent in value.
There was a 14 percent contraction in exports of watches made from precious metals, that was not offset by a 16 percent increase for bimetallic watches.
Exports to China and Hong Kong, meanwhile, rose 5 percent and 2.6 percent from a year earlier respectively, a boost for the industry after several months of declines. The timing coincided with the buildup to the Lunar New Year holiday, when brands typically send more inventory for a period of family gatherings and exchanging gifts.
Elsewhere, exports to France soared 37 percent, but the Singapore and UK markets turned negative, according to the federation’s data.
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