Swiss Watch Tariffs Set to Be Reduced Next Month

By Rob Bates | November 24, 2025

The Swiss government says that U.S. tariffs on Swiss goods could be cut from 39% to 15% by early December—which would provide much-needed relief for the Swiss watch industry, as exports to the United States continue to plummet.

“In Switzerland, we are ready,” Guy Parmelin, head of Switzerland’s Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research, told local broadcaster SRF, as quoted by Reuters. “It takes a bit more time for the USA. I hope everything is fine by early December, but we are pushing.”

Switzerland and the United States agreed last week to lower tariffs on Swiss goods from 39% to 15%, but neither party specified when that would happen.

Since the 39% rate was imposed in early August, Swiss watch exports to the United States have declined dramatically. In October, they fell 46.8% year-over-year, according to statistics compiled by Swiss trade organization FH. That followed a 56% drop in September.

Industry leaders said they hope the duty reduction will help business recover.

“It’s going back to some sanity and a manageable tariff,” Audemars Piguet CEO Ilaria Resta, said during a CEO Roundtable at Dubai Watch Week.

On the same panel, Chopard copresident Karl-Friedrich Scheufele credited watch company executives’ lobbying of President Trump for helping break the deadlock.

“The reason why this intervention at the White House worked was because it was a personal intervention and it was at the right level with the right people and it created the right response,” he said.

Several Swiss executives conferred with Trump in the Oval Office on Nov. 4. That meeting has spurred some controversy because the executives, including Rolex CEO Jean-Frederic Dufour, gave the president gifts.

Parmelin maintained on SRF that the government did the negotiating, and that the executives just came armed with statistics.

He also told a local newspaper that while the agreement calls for Swiss businesses to make certain investments in the United States, they likely would have happened anyway.

“Swiss companies have simply told us their investment intentions that they want to make in the U.S. in the coming years,” he said. “There is also no obligation for Switzerland or the companies to make these investments.”

(Photo: Getty Images)