Lino Terlizzi
Swiss watch exports declined in November. Exports of Swiss timepieces were once again affected by the performance of the US market, which is still the number one market outlet but which has recorded strong declines in recent months. The new setback in the US, which is intertwined with the US tariffs affair, was only partly offset by the progress in some Asian and European markets, including Italy. Swiss exports in November amounted to CHF 2.24 billion (EUR 2.40 billion), 7.3% less than in the same month last year; in the eleven months January-November exports amounted to CHF 23.44 billion (EUR 25.11 billion), 2.2% less than in the same period of 2024.
In mid-November, the US and Switzerland signed a declaration of intent, one of the main points of which was to reduce US tariffs on Swiss goods from 39% to 15%. Only last week it was clarified by Washington that the decrease was effective as of 14 November, but in the meantime the month of November had indeed passed and it is likely that the lack of clarity on dates also affected exports to the US. This is the performance of the top ten markets in November: US 201 million francs (-52%), UK 183 million (+7%), Hong Kong 176 million (+3%), Japan 164 million (-4%), Singapore 156 million (+4%), China 146 million (-3%), UAE 142 million (+20%), France 123 million (-0.4%), Italy 109 million (+8%), Germany 107 million (-8%).
