Swiss Watch Exports Slump in September on US Tariffs (3)

Swiss watch exports fell in September, hurt by the Trump administration’s 39% tariff on imports from Switzerland to the US, the industry’s largest market.

Watch exports fell 3.1% from a year earlier to 2 billion Swiss francs ($2.5 billion), the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry said in a statement Tuesday. Increases in most markets last month were eclipsed by a 56% plunge in exports to the US.

That marks the second straight monthly drop in watch exports, after shipments surged in July as producers rushed to build up inventory ahead of the anticipated US tariff.

Richemont and Swatch ...