financetom
Business
financetom
/
Business
/
Swatch sells watch lampooning Trump's 39% tariffs on Switzerland
News World Market Environment Technology Personal Finance Politics Retail Business Economy Cryptocurrency Forex Stocks Market Commodities
Swatch sells watch lampooning Trump's 39% tariffs on Switzerland
Sep 12, 2025 3:33 AM

ZURICH (Reuters) -Swiss watchmaker Swatch has begun selling a special edition watch with the numbers three and nine reversed on its face in a play on the 39% tariffs President Donald Trump imposed on U.S. imports from Switzerland last month.

The tariffs - among the highest set by Trump worldwide - were met with shock and dismay in Switzerland, a leading producer of high-end watches and other luxury goods.

Costing 139 Swiss francs ($175), the watch named "WHAT IF...TARIFFS?" went on sale on Wednesday and is only available in Switzerland, a company spokesperson said on Friday.

The spokesperson said the watch was made with a knowing "wink" and sent a wake-up call to the Swiss government, which so far has not managed to secure a reduction of the tariffs.

It aims to be a short-lived product, Swatch said.

"Because as soon as the U.S. changes its tariffs for Switzerland, we will immediately stop selling this watch," the spokesperson said, declining to say how many watches had so far been sold but calling the model "a huge success."

The Swatch website said delivery of the beige and blue watch could be delayed by one to two weeks due to what it called "very high demand". It is also available at nearly a dozen Swatch stores, including those at the airports of Zurich and Geneva.

The government of Switzerland has been seeking to negotiate lower tariffs with the Trump administration ever since the levies were announced.

U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick struck a fairly upbeat tone on the talks on Thursday, telling CNBC that his government would "probably get a deal done with Switzerland."

($1 = 0.7964 Swiss francs)

Comments
Welcome to financetom comments! Please keep conversations courteous and on-topic. To fosterproductive and respectful conversations, you may see comments from our Community Managers.
Sign up to post
Sort by
Show More Comments
Related Articles >
Google agrees $36 million fine for anti-competitive deals with Australia telcos
Google agrees $36 million fine for anti-competitive deals with Australia telcos
Aug 17, 2025
SYDNEY, Aug 18 (Reuters) - Google agreed on Monday to pay a A$55 million ($35.8 million) fine in Australia after the consumer watchdog found it had hurt competition by paying the country's two largest telcos to pre-install its search application on Android phones, excluding rival search engines. The fine extends a bumpy period for the Alphabet-owned internet giant in Australia,...
Integral Ad Science Launches Contextual Category Reporting on Meta
Integral Ad Science Launches Contextual Category Reporting on Meta
Jun 18, 2025
04:28 AM EDT, 06/18/2025 (MT Newswires) -- Integral Ad Science ( IAS ) said Wednesday it has launched new contextual category reporting for Meta Platforms ( META ) . The service expands ad measurement reporting on Facebook and Instagram, the company said. The company said its optimization tools can align ad measurement reporting to more than 46 contextual categories, such...
Axiom Intelligence Acquisition Corp. 1 Prices $175 Million Initial Public Offering
Axiom Intelligence Acquisition Corp. 1 Prices $175 Million Initial Public Offering
Jun 18, 2025
04:15 AM EDT, 06/18/2025 (MT Newswires) -- Axiom Intelligence Acquisition Corp. 1 (AXIN) said late Tuesday it priced its initial public offering of 17.5 million units at $10 each. The blank-check company has granted a 45-day overallotment option to the underwriters to acquire up to 2.6 million additional units. Each unit consists of one class A share and one right...
Soccer-Liverpool to begin Premier League title defence at home against Bournemouth
Soccer-Liverpool to begin Premier League title defence at home against Bournemouth
Jun 18, 2025
June 18 (Reuters) - Liverpool will begin their Premier League title defence when they host Bournemouth at Anfield on August 15 while Arsenal play Manchester United ( MANU ) at Old Trafford in their opening game two days later, England's top flight said on Wednesday. Manchester City, who are eyeing a seventh Premier League title under Pep Guardiola, take a...
Copyright 2023-2026 - www.financetom.com All Rights Reserved