The Swiss watch exports in May after the massive deliveries to the United States in April in view of the impending tariffs. However, the “boomerang effect” was weaker than feared, as the Fédération de l’ustrie Horlogère Suisse (FH) announced.
After a strong increase of 18.2 percent in April, Switzerland’s watch exports in May went over all markets by 9.5 percent to CHF 2.1 billion. 40 percent of this decline is due to the decline in deliveries to the USA, as the FH announced on Thursday in a message. This “clear decline” was expected in view of the strong increase in the previous month, it said.
In April, the exports of watches to the United States had an extraordinary increase of 149.2 percent compared to the same month last year. Swiss watch manufacturers had tried to quickly build stocks on the US market in order to secure themselves against possible customs measures. In May, deliveries there decreased by 25.3 percent. The FH found that “this boomerang effect” was “more moderate than expected”.
The announcements from the White House at the beginning of April fell in the middle of the Geneva clock mass and looked like a bang for the industry, which must produce its watches in Switzerland in order to be able to wear the coveted label “Made in Switzerland”.
The United States has been the most important sales market for Swiss watch manufacturers since 2021. The demand there exceeded it from China and Hong Kong. With the decline in May, global watch exports have been CHF 10.8 billion since the beginning of the year – an increase of 1.1 percent compared to the first five months of 2024.
“However, this result does not correspond to the actual sales situation that has had less favorable development,” warns the association.
The export numbers do not reflect the actual sales, but the orders of the retail trade, which fills its inventory.
In other markets, watch exports also declined in May: by 17.4 percent to China, 10.5 percent to Japan and 12.6 percent after Hong Kong. In Europe, exports fell to Great Britain by 14.5 percent, 18.1 percent to France and 4 percent to Germany.