Trump asked Rolex’s leaders jokingly if the prices invited us to the opening, said the CEO | Trump prices
Donald Trump asked Rolex leaders if he would have been invited to watch the US Open final of this month from the luxury watchmaker’s VIP box if he had imposed steep Swiss export prices from weeks earlier.
The comments of the American president were made “jokingly”, underlined Jean -Frederic Dufour, the CEO of Rolex, in a letter to Elizabeth Warren, the American senator who had raised questions on the decision to invite Trump – especially if the conglomerate was looking for “Curry favorable” with the administration.
Warren, a democrat for the Massachusetts, said: “Corruption is not a question of laughing.”
The price of 39% of Trump on Swiss exports to the United States – much higher than its rate of 15% on the European Union, or 10% in the United Kingdom – threatens to put pressure on Rolex, one of the main manufacturers of global watches.
Dufour said that the invitation to Trump, and other personalities from his administration, was part of a broader emphasis on “the values of sport, sporting spirit and international friendship”, rather than on any “capitulation” to the American president. “Rolex has never been committed, and has never been engaged in negotiations with the United States government concerning prices,” he wrote.
But Dufour described how Trump spoke of the prices he had imposed on Switzerland, and Swiss exporters like Rolex, weeks earlier.
“President Trump, never one to miss a rhetorical opportunity, asked if he would have been invited if it had not been for the prices – a moment that brought a laugh all around and, as you can imagine, a quick return of the excitement in progress,” wrote Dufour.
“No fundamental discussion” took place “concerning prices, commercial policy or any other official case” in the open final in the United States, or since then, he said.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comments.
“While families are crushed by Trump’s chaotic prices, Donald Trump and his rich friends laughs in a fancy box sponsored by a luxury watch brand,” said Warren. “How many more of the most can be Trump?”
Trump was offered “a golf sweater and a sports vest” as “a sign of appreciation for having attended the event,” said Dufour.
