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Hey you 'muricans ... get those Swiss watches pronto [tariffs and international trade]

Evitzee
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That will be on some wholesale value, not the retail price. What is yet to be settled is how much of the tariff is eaten by the manufacturer, how much by the importer, and how much by the end customer. It will be brand dependent, some customers will get hit harder than other brands. Much of this is just the argy bargy of negotiations, they may never hit in the long run.
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noelekal
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Consumers far and wide will take it on the chin.
 
Walrus
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Shoot and I was happy buying new. Oh well back to used things.
 
Evitzee
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padders padders
What a very optimistic view. In a years time when the average Joe who is currently flying the buy American flag has to actually do so things will sour rather. If you truly believe that the whole 10-20% (depending on location) will be swallowed by the manufacturing and delivery chain, I wish you the best of luck lol. It is protectionist nonsense, almost Imperial in fact, and no one will gain.
Let's make a friendly wager of what the average increase in an Omega watch will be in say, six months if the 31% tariff stays (and no guarantee of that). I say the price to the end customer will NOT increase by the 31% on whatever the tariffable value is. You can call me optimistic, I say I'm a realist. Too many people are losing their heads over this. I am NO fan of the tariff wars the president is doing, I think it is a waste of precious time and political capital, and dumb to boot, but people are overreacting at this point. Let's see how it plays out.

Consumer items like cars, motorcycles, watches won't see the full increase passed on, these are price sensitive articles, industrial products like you deal with are another matter. As the middleman you'll pass it on.
 
padders
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Evitzee Evitzee
Let's make a friendly wager of what the average increase in an Omega watch will be in say, six months if the 31% tariff stays (and no guarantee of that). I say the price to the end customer will NOT increase by the 31% on whatever the tariffable value is. You can call me optimistic, I say I'm a realist. Too many people are losing their heads over this. I am NO fan of the tariff wars the president is doing, I think it is a waste of precious time and political capital, and dumb to boot, but people are overreacting at this point. Let's see how it plays out.


At no point did I say the retail price would rise by 31%, and I suspect it wont. US Customers will suffer though even if it is 3.1%. Or 15% for that matter though wont they?

Hey if you are no fan of protectionism let's just agree on that instead. Like I say I am sore about the whole thing. I don't wish to fall out with anyone about it but hopefully you can understand my annoyance. With the Orange faced Don that is, not the US man in the street I mean!
 
Walrus
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Damn I try to steer these things away from politics it never works. All things are temporary and I see enough hate and division watches are kinda a break from that.
 
K
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I feel that most luxury goods, such as watches and handbags, aren't going to be affected that much. There is more wiggle room for profits, and the companies seem to try to keep prices in sync worldwide. The yearly price adjustments even take into account currency changes. If there is a price increase, I could even see it being spread along globally to prices in all regions.
 
padders
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K karl42
I feel that most luxury goods, such as watches and handbags, aren't going to be affected that much. There is more wiggle room for profits, and the companies seem to try to keep prices in sync worldwide. The yearly price adjustments even take into account currency changes. If there is a price increase, I could even see it being spread along globally to prices in all regions.
You keep thinking that way. 31% (on the Swiss stuff if true) is fυcking huge.
 
Walrus
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I’m putting Switzerland on my invasion list but I’m still working on my plans for Canada.
 
redzer007
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US exports alot of services, all these tariff conversations have been focused on physical goods, often low value and low margin. Wait till reciprocal tariffs start getting implemented to high value, high margin goods, such as IP, where alot of US inbound $s come from, rarely does this get factored in when trade deficits are discussed.

Nothing will go up by the amount the tariff is, and it's still going to he cheaper to make Nikes in Vietnam than Iowa, but they are going to cost US consumers more and US retailers will make less.

Will be interesting few years
 
K
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padders padders
You keep thinking that way. 31% (on the Swiss stuff if true) is fυcking huge.
True. Though the watch prices in EU include the VAT, which is like 20%, no?

(btw, I'm anti-tarriff and I think this is all completely ridiculous. even if it doesn't sound like I am, based on my comments here)
 
padders
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True. Though the watch prices in EU include the VAT, which is like 20%, no?

(btw, I'm anti-tarriff and I think this is all completely ridiculous. even if it doesn't sound like I am, based on my comments here)
I am glad to hear it. But do not some (most?) US state have sales tax? That is what VAT is, no? Granted it is usually rated rather lower than is normal in Europe but is that not the case? Maybe that doesn't apply where you are.

What I think is equally ridiculous is that US sales tax isn't levied at a Federal rather than state level. Though it does allow the US government to completely overlook it when shouting about iniquity elsewhere of course. Reciprocal tariffs my arse.
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K
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padders padders
I am glad to hear it. But do not some (most?) US state have sales tax? That is what VAT is, no? Granted that is lower than is normal in Europe but is that not the case? Maybe that doesn't apply where you are.

Yes, we do have sales tax in many US states. But the MSRP of the watch/bag doesn't take that into account when Omega/Rolex/Louis Vuitton/Hermes set prices in the US. It varies by state, and is added on as an additional fee, so the tag on the item doesn't include it. For VAT in the EU, it's included as part of the price on the tag.

This is why sometimes Americans sometimes buy bags or watches in the EU, because they can get part of the VAT back and it lowers the price, making it cheaper than it would be in the US.

If you look at a global price list for Omega/Rolex/Louis Vuitton/Hermes, and do currency conversion to one currency, generally the prices are pretty similar. But the EU prices include the VAT. If these stick around, I'm thinking the US prices would include this tariff in these calculations.

For anything else I feel the US consumer is going to be totally screwed. For luxury goods, I this might be the only category that is an exemption.
 
padders
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Would it surprise you to hear the average sales tax in the USA (the total per state divided by 50) is 7.1%? So the EU, Switzerland and the UK have a roughly 13-15% higher sales tax take which also applies to local businesses so is in no way discriminating solely against US or Intenational interests. To call VAT or sales tax or whatever you call it a one way or unfair tax is at best political posturing, at worst stupidity. I don't level this slur at you, but at the idiots currently rolling the dice and laughing at the random outcomes.

Time for another whisk(e)y. Shame you guys wont be able to afford that soon.
 
Archer
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redzer007 redzer007
US exports alot of services, all these tariff conversations have been focused on physical goods, often low value and low margin. Wait till reciprocal tariffs start getting implemented to high value, high margin goods, such as IP, where alot of US inbound $s come from, rarely does this get factored in when trade deficits are discussed.

Nothing will go up by the amount the tariff is, and it's still going to he cheaper to make Nikes in Vietnam than Iowa, but they are going to cost US consumers more and US retailers will make less.

Will be interesting few years
They only focus on physical goods for a reason. If the Trump administration included services, they would show a trade surplus with places like Canada, and any information that doesn’t fit their narrative is ignored.
 
K
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Actually I changed my mind,
padders padders
Time for another whisk(e)y. Shame you guys wont be able to afford that soon.

Actually, I changed my mind, I wasn't able to fine a global Omega price list, but I found a Rolex one:

https://imgur.com/88Gi2QV

Rolex is taking into account the VAT (or lack thereof), so it will be interesting to see what happens in a year (assuming the tariffs stick around).



 
Dsloan
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Friends, I have just now for no particular reason decided that I'll be focusing on buying vintage watches from American collectors for foreseeable future.
 
padders
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Actually I changed my mind,


Actually, I changed my mind, I wasn't able to fine a global Omega price list, but I found a Rolex one:

https://imgur.com/88Gi2QV

Rolex is taking into account the VAT (or lack thereof), so it will be interesting to see what happens in a year (assuming the tariffs stick around).



Wow. Great find, what a great piece of data! I'll put down my drink for a look but it's a bit confused until converted into one currency maybe. It is true that as you say the big names charge very different prices in different markets and I suspect this will show that.
 
padders
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Dsloan Dsloan
Friends, I have just now for no particular reason decided that I'll be focusing on buying vintage watches from American collectors for foreseeable future.
Flip that on its head. Any US collector now has to pay 10-31% more for his buys out of his domestic market does he not?
 
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