This photo taken in Davos on January 22, 2025 shows the logo for the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting.
Fabrice Coffrini | AFP | getty images
European business leaders broadly sought to downplay concerns about the prospect of a transatlantic trade war at the Davos World Economic Forum this week.
US President Donald Trump has repeatedly pushed for tariffs on goods imported from the European Union, and the bloc has warned it is prepared to respond to further duties “in a proportionate manner”.
Speaking to reporters earlier this week, the newly inaugurated US president said the EU is “very bad. So they’re going to attend to the tariffs. It’s the only way… You’re going to get fairness.”
The Trump administration is also considering imposing additional tariffs on goods imported from China, starting early next month.
For business leaders attending the annual WEF conference in Switzerland, reactions to Trump’s tariff threats were decidedly mixed.
JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon said Wednesday that Trump’s mandate to U.S. trading partners could be viewed positively and touted as something people “must get over.”
Meanwhile, UBS CEO Sergio Ermotti warned that if U.S. tariffs lead to inflation, interest rates will not rise quickly.
Siemens CEO Roland Busch described the German industrial giant as “tariff-proof” amid fears of a US-EU trade war.
Busch was asked about concerns about how tariffs could affect his business. Busch said Siemens is already a “global company” with a relatively large presence in the United States.
“We are serving China (and China) in Europe as local to the local area, equally local,” Busch said.
Siemens’ chief executive said the company was recently expanding its U.S. footprint, citing the company’s roughly $10 billion acquisition of U.S. engineering software company Altair.
“On the other hand, tariffs typically increase inflation by definition, so they don’t really help. So the idea is, what can we do, what kind of deal will we make to actually reduce the tariffs,” Busch said. told CNBC.
“I think free trade and low tariffs are actually drivers of growth.”
‘Tariffs don’t help global trade’
On Thursday, the chief executive of Danish wind turbine manufacturer Vestas said the idea that tariffs would make the world a better place is “a new theory, at least for a lot of people.”
Vestas’ Henrik Andersen also warned that additional duties on imported goods would raise inflation risks.
Vestas’ CEO was asked about trade tariffs in Europe and the sour regulatory environment for green energy in the United States.
sap On Thursday, CEO Christian Klein said U.S. tariffs won’t help and it’s not important for tech companies to do business with global trading partners.
“What we’re saying is that tariffs are not helping global trade,” Klein told CNBC. And when you look at the dependencies between Europe and the United States, the United States and China, I don’t believe that’s a good thing,” Klein told CNBC.
Sap’s Klein said he will be speaking with several leaders at Davos about how SAP can support SAP with its supply chain and financial software.
“As you know, because everyone is doing business in China, China also wants to continue to do business in the U.S., so it’s even more important to build these bridges and build these resilient supply chains for technology,” he added.
