The Business of Watch [036] Collective Horology CEO Asher Rapkin And Liberty Justice Center Chairman and CEO Sara Albrecht On Suing Trump Over Tariffs

This week on The Business of Watches, Collective Horology co-founder and Chief Executive Asher Rapkin joins us. He brought his lawyer.

While Collective is a Ventura, California-based retailer of independent watch brands, including Armin Strom, Czapek, Fears, Ming and J.N. Shapiro, Sara Albrecht is the chairman and CEO of The Liberty Justice Center. That's the non-profit litigation firm that led the legal fight successfully challenging President Trump's initial round of tariffs all the way to the Supreme Court of the United States. They won, in a surprise decision that ruled the President didn't have the authority to impose the levies that boosted the cost of importing goods to the U.S., including Swiss made watches. The government is now in the process of refunding the approximately $166 billion businesses paid out.

Of course, the Trump administration found a work-around and immediately slapped on new tariffs and, on July 24, initiated levies of 10% and 12.5% on imported goods, including Swiss made watches. That's the day that Collective Horology and another importer (dealing in exotic spices), filed a lawsuit against the President and various bodies and individuals in the administration including U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer.

Rapkin tells us why his business decided to challenge the tariff laws and take on the President and his government while Albrecht lays out the legal argument driving their case. It's a matter of significant economic importance for U.S. business and the global watch industry.

Show Notes
0:46 Lawsuit filed by Collective Horology et. al against President Donald Trump

1:13 Swiss Watch CEOs Plot Next Move As US Tariffs Threaten Industry Sales (Hodinkee)

2:24 Collective Horology website

3:42 Watch Industry Cheers Supreme Court Tariff Ruling But Faces More Uncertainty As Trump Vows Workaround (Hodinkee)

4:57 Liberty Justice Center

7:28 Forced Labour Section 301 (U.S. Trade Representative statement)

10:50 U.S. dollar x Swiss franc (Xe Currency)

11:37 J.N. Shapiro Watches website

11:50 The Watch Switzerland Can't Make - Karel Bachand (Barrelhand) - Openwork podcast

14:53 Rolex And Richemont Executives Among Swiss Business Leaders Meeting With Trump (Hodinkee)

18:31 Swiss-U.S. Trade Relations (SECO)

20:05 U.S. Court of International Trade

21:11 Jamieson Greer (Hodinkee)