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Business NewsChristopher Ward To Roll Back U.S. Tariff Price Hit By 29% With Corporate Structure Shift
Top U.K. watch brand shifts distribution to existing U.S. entity to cut prices for U.S. customers.
Christopher Ward, the biggest U.K.-based producer of Swiss-made watches, says it will cut prices for U.S. customers hit by weighty tariffs on Swiss imports by shifting its corporate and distribution structure in its biggest market. The company, best known as a direct-to-consumer brand making design-driven, value-priced models including the Bel Canto, Twelve, and Loco, has made its U.S.-based corporate entity the official distribution center for its products in the U.S. That will allow Christopher Ward to reduce the effective import value of its products on which tariffs are applied.
Coupled with a new deal with courier DHL to import its watches in bulk rather than previously delivering watches direct to customers, the company says it will be able to cut prices for its U.S. customers by about 29% and back to levels those clients were paying before 39% tariffs came in to effect on Aug. 7. Chief Executive Officer Mike France, in an interview, says the imposition of the U.S. tariffs accelerated the company's plans to re-organize its structure. Christopher Ward's business and sales "have been moving sharply westward for some time,'' he says, referring to the U.S., which now accounts for more than 45% of the company's sales. Known for its transparent pricing model and vow not to price its watches more than three times the cost of production, France says the move to roll prices back in line in the U.S. was inevitable. "It's part and parcel of who we are," he says.
With an annual production of approximately 50,000 watches and a long-established corporate presence in the U.S., as well as the U.K. and Switzerland, Christopher Ward was able to leverage its size and scale to implement structural changes that brought down prices in the U.S. The move effectively allows the brand to value its watches at wholesale on import, typically about one-third lower, in much the same way that major brands such as Rolex and those controlled by Swatch Group and Richemont do through their own U.S. corporate entities. Other, small independent brands producing Swiss watches and selling directly to customers are unlikely to have a U.S.-based corporate entity or the resources to effect such a change.
"We're in a fortunate position because of the structure that we've built up to be able to do it,'' France says. The executive says he expects U.S. customers to be able to buy popular models, such as its original Bel Canto chiming watch, again for about $4,000, before local and state taxes. In addition to selling watches online to customers, Christopher Ward also operates a boutique in Dallas, Texas. France says the company plans to soon open another showroom near Tysons Corner, in Virginia, outside of Washington D.C. All told, the U.S. has become a key strategic market for Christopher Ward. The corporate restructuring will "benefit the U.S. economy because we will be repatriating more profits into the U.S.," France says. Pricing in other markets Christopher Ward sells to won't be impacted, he says.
The surprise 39% tariff slapped on Swiss goods by the Trump administration prompted an anticipatory surge in imports of Swiss watches to the U.S. as retailers stocked up to avoid the significant levies. Brands including Rolex, Omega, and Audemars Piguet raised prices in the U.S. after the initial tariffs were unveiled in April. Swiss officials are seeking a better deal with their U.S. counterparts with plans to present a new proposal soon, Reuters recently reported.
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Business NewsChristopher Ward To Roll Back U.S. Tariff Price Hit By 29% With Corporate Structure Shift
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