Swiss Watch Exports Fell in November Before US Tariff Reprieve
TL;DR
Swiss watch exports fell 7.3% in November, the fourth consecutive monthly decline, as companies awaited a US tariff reduction from 39% to 15%. Exports to the US dropped 52%, but a deal backdated to mid-November may boost future sales.
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Swiss watch exports fell for a fourth month as companies waited for the US agreement to ease punitive import tariffs to take effect.
Exports dropped 7.3% in November from a year earlier, the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry said Thursday, the most since August when President Donald Trump’s administration slapped a 39% levy on Switzerland’s products. Exports to the US, the industry’s biggest market, fell 52% last month.
Manufacturers of watches, machines and precision instruments were among sectors hit hardest by the US trade tariffs on Switzerland, according to the country’s central bank. A deal to reduce the levy to 15% finally came on Nov. 14, but companies only found out in December that the lower tariffs would be backdated to the day the agreement was announced.
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Watch exports are likely to pick up in the coming months as the tariff deal reassures companies, Citigroup analyst Thomas Chauvet said in a note.
Still, Switzerland’s overall exports to the US rose in November, underscoring the challenging backdrop facing the watch sector. The 15% import levy is still higher than the 2% faced by companies before Trump’s trade measures.
Shares of both Richemont and Swatch Group AG slipped in early Zurich trading.
Overall, exports were down in almost all price bands, and in every material, the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry said.
Exports to Japan dropped, while the picture also turned negative in China after two months of growth. That’s dampening hopes for a recovery in luxury demand in the country, especially given its recent slow retail sales growth.
“The luxury watch sector enters 2026 with mixed fundamentals,” Vontobel analyst Jean-Philippe Bertschy said in a note. Asia comparisons will ease, he said, “but the US remains unpredictable, and discretionary spending in Europe is showing fatigue.”