> Hopefully steep tariffs on Switzerland will bring watchmaking and watchmakers back to America
It’s actually a good case study. It no longer makes sense to buy a fine watch from an American retailer. The tariffs incentivise a trip abroad. (I’m seeing something similar happen with skis.)
> You risk paying a tariff when you return to the US though
Not really. I’m bringing back a few thousand dollars of mounted, probably lightly-used, skis. Nobody expects to declare random purchases made abroad. Much less an article of jewellery on their wrist.
The actual raw material has to be a fraction of the worth.