WASHINGTON, Jan 29 (Reuters) - The top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee asked the U.S. Trade Representative's Office on Thursday to explain the decision to cut U.S. tariffs on Swiss imports to 15% from 39% shortly after a meeting where Swiss business executives gave lavish gifts to U.S. President Donald Trump.
Senator Ron Wyden asked USTR to explain by February 11 which officials helped set the initial rate of 39% and why; which officials recommended lowering the duties; and whether Swiss
negotiators told USTR about the gifts given to Trump.
During a speech in Davos, Switzerland last week, Trump said he had agreed to lower the 39% U.S. tariff rate on imports from Switzerland to 15% amid pressure from Swiss companies, including Rolex, but the rate could rise again.
He said he initially planned a tariff rate of 30% on Swiss imports but raised it to 39% after a meeting last year with then-Swiss President Karin Keller-Sutter, saying she "just rubbed me the wrong way, I'll be honest with you."
Swiss lawmakers last year asked prosecutors to examine whether the gifts - including a Rolex watch and a gold bar - violated Swiss anti-bribery laws, although a source with the business delegation who met with Trump said in November that they complied with the laws of both countries.
“The American public and U.S. importers and consumers who pay the tariffs are entitled to a government that pursues trade policy in the public interest, rather than on the basis of the president’s whims,” Wyden wrote in his letter to U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer.
He said Trump's agreement to lower tariffs after receipt of the gifts "creates a perception that lavishing gifts on the president, rather than negotiating with USTR, is the best way for trading partners to engage with the United States."
Wyden said the decision came just days after Trump accepted the gifts, which he said included a personalized gold bar worth more than $130,000, creating "an apparent conflict of interest" and possible violations of the U.S. Constitution.
No comment was immediately available from USTR.
(Reporting by Andrea Shalal; editing by Diane Craft)
