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LONDON — Welcome back to CNBC’s live blog covering all the latest news, views and action on day three of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
Key points:
- Europe must be prepared for U.S. tariffs, ECB’s Lagarde says view post
- Spanish prime minister says trade war a ‘zero-sum game’ view post
- Europe ready to respond to any tariffs imposed by the U.S., top EU official says view post
- France will have a budget approved within weeks, minister says view post
- Prosus has $20 billion in cash to invest in Europe view post
European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde told CNBC’s Karen Tso at the event on Wednesday that Europe must “be prepared” to deal with U.S. tariffs under newly inaugurated President Donald Trump.
“What we need to do here in Europe is to be prepared, and anticipate what will happen in order to respond,” she said.
The ECB chief added the fact that Trump had not imposed blanket tariffs on the first day of his presidency was a “very smart approach … because blanket tariffs are not necessarily giving you the results that you expect.”
As such, she said she expects Trump’s tariffs to be “more selective, focused.”
Swiss police patrol outside the Congress Center ahead of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Jan. 19, 2025.
Yves Herman | Reuters
Lagarde’s comments came after Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez told CNBC’s Steve Sedgwick on the sidelines of the conference that a trade war between Europe and America would be a “zero-sum game.”
“We share a strong transatlantic bond … our economies are very interlinked and I believe a trade war is not in the interest [of either party],” he said. “We need to focus on how we strengthen our transatlantic relationship, which is now more important than ever.”
Mark Rutte, the head of NATO, Polish President Andrzej Duda, Dick Schoof, the Netherlands’ prime minister, as well as Saudi Arabia’s Finance Minister Mohammed Al Jadaan and Finnish President Alexander Stubb will also speak to CNBC at the forum.
— CNBC’s Sophie Kiderlin contributed to this report.
