New York
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Swatch, the Swiss watchmaker, is trolling the 39% tariffs that the United States positioned on its dwelling nation by promoting a watch that flips the location of the 3 and 9 numerals.
The tongue-in-cheek new watch — dubbed “WHAT IF … TARIFFS?” — is impressed by the “current events unfolding in today’s world,” based on the description on its web site. Swatch jokes that the new watch is “hopefully just a limited edition.”
“The inversion of Arabic numerals 3 and 9 on the dial subtly references the number 39,” the page says. “Paired with the percentage symbol found on the battery cover, this inversion hints at the US tariffs imposed on Switzerland and the deeper narrative woven into the watch’s design.”
The watch is accessible solely in Switzerland and subsequently received’t be topic to the 39% tariffs — amongst the highest imposed on a European nation by President Donald Trump.
A Swatch spokesperson instructed NCS that the watch is a “positive provocation,” and the model will cease promoting the watch when a deal is reached between the United States and Switzerland. Demand is “so high that we are full steam ahead with production,” the firm added.
“We need to wake up our government, which seems to have forgotten about this issue,” Swatch stated in a assertion.
Their needling is for good cause: The United States is the greatest buyer of Swiss watches, with exports amounting to $5.4 billion in 2024, based on data from the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry.
Switzerland was shocked by the sky-high tariffs, Swiss media reported final month, and its leaders are nonetheless determining learn how to enhance relations with the Trump administration.
Rolex, one other main Swiss firm and maker of luxurious timepieces, has additionally made efforts to enhance Swiss-American relations. The firm invited Trump to their suite to watch the US Open males’s closing final Sunday, the place he was greeted with mixed reactions.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said in an interview Thursday that he’ll “probably get a deal done” with Switzerland, however he didn’t reveal a timeline.