Swiss (Watch) Exports to Be Subject to a 31% Tariff

Under the 1977 International Emergency Powers Act, Donald Trump announced a sweeping new set of reciprocal tariffs on Wednesday. As a result, imports from the European Union (and therefore Germany) will be subject to a 20% surcharge, while those from Switzerland will even be subject to a 31% tariff as a reaction to the 61% tariffs that the U.S. says Switzerland imposes on American products. Trump imposed 10% as the “minimum rate” for other countries, Japan is listed with 24%.

Coalition for a Prosperous America Chairman Zach Mottl: “A permanent, universal baseline tariff resets the global trade environment and finally addresses the destructive legacy of decades of misguided free-trade policies. President Trump’s decision to implement a baseline tariff is a game-changing shift that prioritizes American manufacturing, protects working-class jobs, and safeguards our economic security from adversaries like China. This is exactly the type of bold action America needs to restore its industrial leadership." Others argue that prices could go up for consumers, since companies can choose to pass on some or all of the cost to customers.

What is clear already, however, Trump's announcement could not have come at a worse time: The Swiss watch industry's exports had already fallen back by 8.2% in February, "despite a favorable base effect," according to the Federation of the Swiss watch industry FH. In the same period, the United States, the leading market for watch exports since 2021, posted negative performance of 6.7%.

In March, Director of Switzerland's State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (Seco), Helene Budliger Artieda already pointed out that the country “certainly can’t be accused of being unfair." Switzerland had "unilaterally abolished its industrial tariffs, we have no pharmaceutical tariffs. US companies can export their products to Switzerland duty-free.”

In a statement on X, Swiss President Karin Keller-Sutter said her government took note of the U.S. tariff decisions and would quickly determine its next steps: "The country's long-term economic interests are paramount. Adherence to international law and free trade remain core values."

The U.S. is Switzerland's single-biggest export market, and the sixth-biggest foreign investor in the United States.