Switzerland’s State Secretariat For Economic Affairs (SECO) said the agreement ‘will significantly improve access to the U.S. market for Swiss companies.
“The competitiveness of Swiss companies will also be strengthened, as they will once again enjoy similar conditions on the US market as companies from the EU or other US trading partners with a similar economic structure,” SECO officials said in the statement.
Already facing cost pressures from the strength of the Swiss franc and the price of gold at record levels, top Swiss brands from Rolex to Omega and Patek Philippe raised watch prices in response. Many brands also moved to ship significant amounts of stock to the U.S. ahead of tariffs kicking in.
The deal and warming of trade ties follows a November visit to the White House by a group of Swiss business leaders that included Rolex Chief Executive Officer Jean-Frédéric Dufour, Richemont Chairman Johann Rupert, and the head of private equity firm Partners Group, which controls Breitling. The meeting, which participants said was aimed at strengthening economic ties and relations between the two nations, and not a negotiation, also included top executives from the Swiss gold-refining and commodities-trading industries.