President Trump’s tariffs were announced at the funniest possible time. News broke right in the middle of Watch and Wonders, the industry’s premier trade show. The vibe at the Palexpo, the Geneva exhibition hall where the fair is held every year, was thrown completely out of whack. I remember watching Reuters reporters armed with cameras pull aside my buddy Sacha Davidoff, one half of the duo behind the vintage shop Roy & Sacha Davidoff S.A, to get his take on the matter. Brand presentations were derailed as chatter devolved into how the industry would respond; some makers had already devised game plans, while others relayed that higher-ups were sure Trump would change his mind. The latter prediction looked good initially, as the president quickly put a 90-day pause on the taxes.

However, the idea that the tariffs would just fade away and we’d have another TACO situation was misguided. After failing to negotiate a new deal, the US applied a soaring 39% tax rate against Switzerland. That was a terrifying number for everyone in the industry. “A 39% tariff already brings the import of new Swiss watches to a screeching halt,” Eugene Tutunikov, the CEO of SwissWatchExpao, told me. “That’s not a viable market.”

The Swiss watch industry, in hopes of alleviating this pain, put on a charm offensive. Rolex invited Trump to sit in its luxury suite for the US Open men’s final and, along with a number of other Swiss watch executives, later met with the president in the Oval Office. The Crown also left a gift: a Datejust desk clock. Eventually, the winds turned and tariffs were reduced to “just” 15% in November. Brands are already adjusting their prices down in response.