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May 22, 2019 | International, Aerospace

TRUMP: «ET N'OUBLIEZ PAS D'ACHETER NOS JETS M. MAURER!..»

PAR ERIC FELLEY

Zurich-Washington aller-retour, dix-huit heures d'avion pour aller discuter pendant 40 minutes avec Donald Trump dans le bureau ovale de la Maison Blanche. Tout cela n'est pas très écologique... Mais au diable le CO2, c'était ce jeudi jour de gloire pour Ueli Maurer. L'UDC aura ressenti beaucoup d'émotion à serrer la main de l'homme le plus puissant de la planète, dont son parti partage le style conservateur désinhibé. Cela valait la peine d'attendre 27 ans avant de retourner visiter un président américain.

Tout doit rester secret...

Le contenu des discussions entre les deux présidents n'a pas été rendu public. On pense qu'elles ont tourné autour des bons offices de la Suisse avec l'Iran dans cette période de tension entre les faucons américains et le régime de Mollahs. L'autre aspect de la rencontre serait un accord de libre-échange entre la Suisse et les Etats-Unis, qui serait une formidable opportunité pour l'économie suisse. A condition que la Suisse verte et agricole accepte les OGM, ce qui est moins sûr que la fonte des glaciers.

Six milliard à dépenser

Mais la vraie raison de cette visite est sans doute d'ordre commercial plus terre à terre. Dans les airs, dira-t-on. La porte d'entrée de cet accord de libre échange pourrait bien être l'achat par la Suisse des avions de combat pour six milliards de bons francs suisses. Hasard du calendrier, le même jour, la conseillère fédérale Viola Amherd présente à Berne sa stratégie pour faire passer le fameux achat devant le peuple, probablement en 2020, sans préciser le type d'avion.

Boeing ou Lockheed-Martin ?

Or, ici, c'est le nerf de la guerre pour le Conseil fédéral. Parmi les candidats qui veulent vendre des jets à l'armée suisse figurent les deux mega compagnies américaines: Boeing (F/A-18 Super Hornet) et Lockheed-Martin (F-35A). Elles sont en concurrence avec les européennes: Saab, Suède (Gripen E), Airbus, Allemagne (Eurofighter) et Dassault, France (Rafale). Nul doute que Donald Trump serait flatté si la Suisse dépensait ses milliards de l'autre côté de l'Atlantique.

Retour d'ascenseur ?

«Together ahead» a écrit Ueli Maurer sur le livre d'or de la Maison blanche. Il se trouve que c'est le slogan publicitaire de la firme d'armement Ruag de la Confédération, qui est active dans l'aéronautique. «Les avions sont notre passion, écrit la société sur son site. RUAG est leader de la fourniture, du suivi et de l'intégration de systèmes et de composants pour l'aéronautique civile et militaire.» Le message semble clair.

Quand le peuple aura approuvé les yeux fermés l'achat d'avions de combat, on verra si la visite de Maurer à Trump aura été suivie d'effets. (Le Matin)

https://www.lematin.ch/suisse/Trump-Et-n-oubliez-pas-dacheter-nos-jets-M-Maurer/story/30262949

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