Chamwe Kaira The Jewelers of America (JA), the national trade association for fine jewelry businesses, is lobbying the United States  government to exempt diamonds from tariffs, a move that could affect Namibia’s diamond industry. JA said it met with Peter Navarro, senior counselor for trade and manufacturing to President Donald Trump, and his staff in Washington, D.C. The talks focused on the challenges in the global supply chain for polished diamonds and the possibility of adding diamonds to the Annex II list of products excluded from tariffs as a critical mineral. JA president and CEO David Bonaparte was joined by Tim Haake of Haake & Associates and Ronnie Vander Linden, president of the International Diamond Manufacturers Association (IDMA). “Tariffs are a huge concern for the jewelry industry and their full impact on pricing and consumer confidence is yet to be seen. We are aggressively communicating to key members of the Trump administration to ensure the jewelry industry’s voice is heard. We had a constructive exchange of views and had an opportunity to express the industry’s concern about the effect of tariffs on our members. We are hopeful for a favorable outcome,” Bonaparte said. In May, JA delivered a position paper titled ’The Impact of Broad Tariffs on the US Jewelry Industry’ to secretary of commerce Howard Lutnick, secretary of the treasury Scott Bessent, US trade representative Jamieson Greer, and Navarro. The paper outlined the negative impact of tariffs on members and the wider industry. The association also urged its members to share their personal experiences through JA’s Legislative Action Center, where they can write directly to Trump and lawmakers to highlight how tariffs are affecting their businesses. At the Chamber of Mines of Namibia Mining Indaba, Debmarine CEO Willy Mertens said the Namibian government and De Beers would engage the US on the impact of tariffs on Namibia. Debmarine Namibia contributed N$15 billion between 2020 and 2024.  Mertens said that since tariffs came into effect on 5 April, loose polished diamond imports into the US from India dropped to an average of US$7 million per day, compared to US$16 million per day in March before the tariffs. In early August, Namibia’s tariff rate on US goods was reduced from 21% to 15%. Angola, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, and Zambia also saw reductions to 15%. South Africa’s tariff rate remained at 30%.

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Diamond prices declined for most of July amid uncertainty over US tariffs. Major retailers postponed holiday purchases, creating pressure on prices and inventory following a hike in manufacturing. US dealers raised prices on the final day of the month in response to President Donald Trump’s July 30 announcement of 25% duties on Indian imports. The trade began moving inventory to the US ahead of 7 August, when the new rate goes into effect. Smaller diamonds saw a sharper downturn amid a growing oversupply: The index for 0.30- and 0.50-carat stones declined 3.3% and 4.7% respectively. Larger stones enjoyed more stability, with the 3-carat RAPI slipping 0.3%. Prices of round, 1-carat, D to J, SI diamonds slid 4.6% during the period. Production in India increased from February through June. Steady quantities of fresh goods have entered the market in the past two months. Inventories of rounds under 1.20 carats have risen sharply, prompting suppliers to reduce prices as a way of generating sales. De Beers’ policy of offloading rough at slimmer margins enabled manufacturers to sell polished profitably at low prices. De Beers reported an underlying loss of US$245 million for the first half of 2025, compared with a US$73 million profit a year earlier. Small miners cut output and workers, reflecting pressure on the sector. Demand for elongated fancy shapes remained strong in July. Prices were stable in most categories. Goods of two carats and larger were in short supply. Independent US jewelers enjoyed steady sales and took on new memo goods. However, the larger retailers delayed their seasonal purchases because of the tariffs and a more cautious approach to inventory. They are also shifting further toward synthetics. Chinese diamond demand remained slow but began to stabilise. The Indian domestic market awaited the India International Jewellery Show (IIJS) in Mumbai for signs of the sector’s health. The Rapaport Group is an international network of companies providing added-value services that support the development of ethical, transparent, competitive and efficient diamond and jewelry markets.  Group activities include Rapaport Information Services, providing the Rapaport benchmark Price List for diamonds, as well as research, analysis and news; RapNet, the world’s largest diamond trading network, with daily listings of 1.5 million diamonds valued at more than US$7.2 billion; and Rapaport Trading and Auction Services, the world’s largest recycler of diamonds.  *Used with permission of Rapaport USA, Inc.

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By Casey Hall SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Danish jewellery maker Pandora (OTC:PNDRY) is exploring ways to restructure its business in China, said two people familiar with the matter, after years of plunging sales both online and off. The world’s largest jeweller by volume of pieces sold is in discussion with China-based funds and e-commerce partners to potentially license its brand and all of its assets, including existing inventory, for five years, said one of the people. Pandora, like many consumer-facing multinational companies operating in the world’s second-largest economy after the U.S., has been hit hard by post-pandemic consumer malaise, exacerbated by a property crisis that has rippled through the economy. It has also had to contend with competition from local, digital-savvy brands in a crowded e-commerce space as well as a shift in consumer preference to gold and high-value jewellery. Pandora, in a statement to Reuters, said it recognised the need to reposition its brand in China and was working on a turnaround, saying "it will take time". It did not address specific questions about possible restructuring in the country. "China is the biggest jewellery market in the world, and we remain fully committed to the business there," Pandora said. Pandora’s China revenue tumbled nearly 80% to 416 million Danish crowns ($65.10 million) in 2024 from 1.97 billion crowns in 2019, with the country’s revenue contribution slumping to around 1% from 11% over that period, exchange filings showed. The China business has had three chiefs since 2022. Current managing director Thomas Knudsen started in January, soon after which Pandora said it would close 50 China stores this year. Finding a stakeholder or licence partner could be "difficult" given the trends in performance and broader consumer headwind, said Jonathan Yan, a principal at consultancy Roland Berger in Shanghai. "I don’t think financial investors are going to be interested in this asset," Yan said. E-commerce partner firms looking into higher-margin brand ownership "may be interested". A model for such a deal could be the sale of U.S. apparel retailer Gap’s China business to Baozun (NASDAQ:BZUN), one of China’s biggest e-commerce partner firms, for $40 million to $50 million in 2022. Reuters was not able to determine the value for the potential Pandora deal. Pandora’s e-commerce business has seen sales slide more dramatically than at physical stores, said a person with knowledge of its China business, who was not authorised to speak to media on the matter so declined to be identified. A takeover by an operator who knows how to compete in Chinese e-commerce would therefore be positive though any turnaround will be costly to whoever foots the bill, said Yan. "They will need to burn money and have a very innovative, approach, and even then it won’t be easy," he said. ($1 = 6.3902 Danish crowns)

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