De Beers Sight as a Tariff Test

De Beers Global Sightholder Sales office in Botswana. (De Beers)

This week’s De Beers sight could be an important test of midstream sentiment and planning — especially for India’s manufacturing sector. It’s the first sight since US reciprocal tariffs came into play, imposing a 25% duty on Indian diamond imports, with a further 25% set to take effect on August 27.

The timing provides important context. A relatively large volume of rough came onto the market in July, as De Beers enabled greater flexibility in its sales terms and manufacturers rushed to get polished ready before the tariffs. That could point to a smaller August sight. But with the next sale only scheduled for October 6 to 10, manufacturers may need to secure goods now to carry them through.

The more interesting question is perhaps not the size of the sight, but where the diamonds end up — and to what extent Indian manufacturers can avoid polishing US-bound goods in their home factories.

Most Indian sightholders run overseas facilities, giving them the option to shift manufacturing abroad and sidestep the higher Indian tariffs. That flexibility could all but dry up India’s secondary rough market, leaving little incentive to push goods into the country at all — and smaller manufacturers squeezed by both a shortage of supply and a crisis in demand. At the same time, they still have clients in other markets to service, not least the fast-growing domestic Indian jewelry sector.

Ultimately, though, manufacturers will be playing to the wants and needs of US jewelers. De Beers is expected to continue its flexible selling approach, acknowledging the caution running through the trade.

For their part, sightholders may still have time on their side — and a willingness to wait out the tariff turmoil — as US jewelers pause purchases and weigh where, and from whom, it makes the most economic sense to source. Come the next sight in October, however, they’ll no longer have that luxury.

This article was part of the August 25 Pressing Matters executive memo. Read the rest of the memo here: Pressing Matters