The recent decision to lower US tariffs on Swiss imports from 39% to 15% is particularly good news for the watch industry, says Georges Kern, head of the Breitling luxury watch brand. +Get the most important news from Switzerland in your inbox The new deal shows that "Team Switzerland", with the support of the Swiss economy, has been effective, Kern told the AWP news agency on Monday. At the same time, the Breitling CEO expressed disappointment that Swiss watch manufacturers were not completely exempt and that the original tariff rate of 2% no longer applies. "Our products do not take jobs away from anyone in the United States," Kern said. "We are exclusively Swiss made and this is one of the reasons why our products are also bought in the US." Strong US growth expected after shutdown The US market nonetheless remains "very strong" with "robust" growth at the moment, the Breitling CEO said. "Thanks to our broad presence in the US, we are very confident about future developments.
