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The WDN seeks lower taxes, tariffs on watch trade

February 12, 2009

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Davie, Fla.--In an effort to lower taxes and tariffs on watch imports and exports between the United States and other countries and thereby drive business, the head of The Watch Dealers Network is asking a federal agency to intervene.

Avi Soffer, founder and director of operations of The Watch Dealers Network (TheWDN.com), announced on Thursday that he has reached out to the customs division of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to seek lower taxes and duty rates on watches and jewelry in the hopes of providing added incentive for global marketplaces to buy and sell with the United States.

The Watch Dealers Network is a trade-only business-to-business online network providing watch trading and added-value services.

"This is our (TheWDN's) way of recommending to the government a 'stimulus plan' that will directly benefit thousands of jewelry and watch professionals, who account billions of dollars a year into the U.S. economy," Soffer said in a statement issued on Thursday. "For years, there has been an increasing demand for the global marketplaces to unite and be able to trade watches more efficiently. Given all the efforts by the current administration to improve economic conditions, it makes sense for industry insiders to get involved and suggest ways the government can better assist their specific industries."

The typical tax and duties on a watch imported from Europe or the Far East total somewhere between 1.5 percent and 3 percent of the item's value, before shipping, broker and other government fees. As profit margins on individual watch sales, particularly within the secondary markets, are significantly less than that on most other luxury items, the costs of import/export diminishes overall profits by 50 percent to 90 percent, Soffer says.

"The same taxes and duties that are commonly imposed on higher-profit-yielding luxury items are currently being applied to the less profitable watch import," Soffer said. "Lowering tariffs has the potential of adding billions of additional dollars into the U.S. economy via an increase in watch and jewelry trade between the U.S. and the worldwide markets."

The money saved on tariff and taxes would increase global buying and selling opportunities and allow that savings to be passed on to the American consumer, he added.

Soffer said he is currently in direct contact with Homeland Security, with whom he has previously worked as a watch specifications consultant, and plans to meet department heads in Washington, D.C., later next month to further his cause.
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Business | Imports and Exports | National Economy | Public Finance | Taxes | Trade | U.S. National Economy

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