Will the Biggest Market for Swiss Watches Turn on Them?

The US is the biggest and most vital market for Swiss watch brands. But is it an empire built on sand?

- Bibek Bhattacharya

On April 9, Donald Trump backed down. Probably spooked by the domestic stock market meltdown, the US president put a 90-day pause on his reciprocal tariffs plan. While this will help global trade avoid immediate dysfunction, it is a threat that will not go away soon. This is truer than ever for Swiss watchmakers.

After all, the Swiss watch industry has just gone through a traumatic week.

Between April 1 and 7, Geneva was supposed to be abuzz with the world's biggest annual watch fair—Watches and Wonders. And it indeed was, but not because of the Land-Dweller, the first new Rolex watch model in years, or the countless other new wristwatch launches from the who's who of Swiss luxury watchmaking. It was abuzz instead with anxiety, growing to dread.

Donald Trump had declared 'Liberation Day,' and tariffs and a growing fear of global trade wars the new normal. While trade turmoil between the US and China was to be expected, nobody expected neutral old Switzerland to get caught with a 31% tariff, on top of the universal 10% tariff.

Watch publications, which are more comfortable publishing reviews of new releases, instead found themselves having to do some ground reportage on the state of the industry instead. Because it is a big deal—if the US does indeed carry through with the threat of 31% tariffs on Swiss products, then the Alpine country's famed watch industry will be hit, and quite badly at that.