Zurich (AFP) – Two Swiss lawmakers have asked the country’s attorney general to probe the legality of gifts reportedly given to US President Donald Trump by Swiss business leaders days before the two nations cut a breakthrough tariff deal.
A delegation went to Washington earlier this month to try to persuade Trump to lower his 39-percent duties on Swiss goods — among the highest in his global tariff blitz. A Rolex table clock and an engraved gold bar later appeared on the president’s desk.
When Washington and Bern struck a deal slashing tariffs on Swiss goods to 15 percent 10 days later, criticism of what has been dubbed “gold bar diplomacy” resurfaced. “We believe that the events in question deserve judicial clarification,” said Green MPs Raphael Mahaim and Greta Gysin in a criminal complaint to the attorney general.
“This concerns the credibility of our institutions, respect for the rule of law, and Switzerland’s international reputation,” they added in the letter dated November 26. They called on prosecutors to investigate whether the gifts may have violated Swiss anti-bribery laws or constituted “undue advantage under Swiss criminal law”.
The value of the gifts is unknown, and “public information regarding the final destination of the gifts given to the American president is incomplete,” they added. Rolex CEO Jean-Frederic Dufour and head of precious metals trader MKS PAMP, Marwan Shakarchi, were among the business leaders at the meeting.
Businesses hailed the deal as averting potential disaster for the export-driven Swiss economy, while others — notably Green MPs — have questioned whether such gifts give the appearance of influence-peddling.
© 2024 AFP
