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Watch makers fight against US tariffs

Monday, 27 July 2026 06:30

Switzerland's watch industry is pushing Washington for an exemption from the new 12.5% US tariff that took effect on Friday.

Georges Kern, chief executive of Breitling, has made the public case in interviews with the NZZ am Sonntag and Newsweek, arguing that a product America does not manufacture should not be protected. 

He points to the exemptions already granted to Scotch whisky and to coffee, a decision from which Nestlé's Swiss-made capsules gain considerably. 

The head of the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry, Yves Bugmann, confirms the sector has been lobbying since Donald Trump's first tariff threats. 

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