Davos 2025 live updates: Trump addresses WEF as tariffs and trade dominate discussions

There will be a “Europe first” approach when it comes to artificial intelligence, Stéphane Séjourné, executive vice president for prosperity and industrial strategy at the European Commission, told CNBC on Thursday.

Séjourné suggested that the European Union would not abandon the sector, which he said would be a big part of the future, according to a CNBC translation. There are various unicorn companies in Europe, he noted, saying that they should be supported to grow and scale, which currently is an issue in Europe.

European tech CEOs have long been calling for a more level playing field with their U.S. counterparts, with some European companies moving operations stateside as they believe the environment there is more favourable for them.

Séjourné on Thursday said that the goal was to create regulations and financing to enable such companies to be competitive on a global level.

— Sophie Kiderlin

A “global hegemony” of left-wing politics and ideology is “starting to crumble,” Argentina’s firebrand President Javier Milei told the World Economic Forum on Thursday.

“What once seemed like a global hegemony of the ‘woke’ left in politics, educational institutions, in the media, in supranational organizations or even in forums like Davos, has begun to crumble,” right-wing leader Milei, who took office in 2023, told business and political leaders in Davos, Switzerland.

The divisive ‘woke’ term typically refers to supporting social justice issues and political activism.

The Argentinian politician, who casts himself in a similar vein to U.S. President Donald Trump, said he had been forming alliances with other like-minded figures and leaders.

“Over the course of this year, I have found allies in this fight for the cause of freedom in every corner of the world, from the amazing [tech billionaire] Elon Musk to that fierce Italian lady [Prime Minister] Giorgia Meloni, from [President Nayib] Bukele in El Salvador to Viktor Orban in Hungary,” he said, also namedropping Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Trump among his allies.

“Slowly, an international alliance has been forming among all those nations who want to be free and believe in the ideas of liberty,” he said.

— Holly Ellyatt

Lombard Odier managing partner Hubert Keller said he continues to see huge opportunity for investment in the green transition despite recent moves by the new U.S. administration to roll back green initiatives.

“Are we going to continue to talk about climate initiatives? Are we still going to think about how to fund it? The answer is absolutely yes. The economy is changing,” he said.

Asked by CNBC’s Steve Sedgwick and Karen Tso whether he thought fears of capital withdrawal from climate initiatives were overdone, he said “I think so.”

Since taking office Monday, President Donald Trump has set to work rescinding a series of green programs, including signing an executive order to pull the U.S. out of the world’s biggest coordinated effort to tackle rising temperatures.

“The green transition is a much bigger technological revolution. And betting against tech has always been the wrong thing to do,” he said.

— Karen Gilchrist

Christian Sinding, CEO of Swedish private equity firm EQT said Thursday that the market for M&A and big business deals was “continuing to improve.”

“We had a record year in 2024 we did over $20 billion of investments,” Sinding told CNBC’s Karen Tso and Steve Sedgwick on the ground at Davos.

“We did more than $10 billion of exits, and that’s kind of building up to 2025 where I think a lot of the market participants are now ready to transact, whether it’s private equity or family offices or strategic buyers. And of course, if you look at the global capital markets, the IPO market is wide open. The credit markets are strong, so we’re fairly positive looking into the next year.”

— Chloe Taylor

Institutions such as the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) need to ask themselves why many countries are shifting toward protectionism, the head of the Paris-based group told CNBC on Thursday.

“It’s in nobody’s interest to have a trade war… as an organization we’re very much in favor of open markets and the sustainable expansion of global trade within a rules-based trading system,” Mathias Cormann said.

“But we need to ask ourselves the question as to why some of these measures are now being taken, and why we have seen over the last 15 years or so, increasing instances of protectionism.”

Cormann continued: “It is true that globalization hasn’t worked as well as it could have and should have for everyone.”

“We understand that there are real issues that need to be addressed, and we ignore them at our peril.”

The OECD chief also noted that it was early days for the new administration of U.S. President Donald Trump — who is threatening widespread global tariffs — and that it remained to be seen how “issues are ultimately worked through.”

“Mexico will be a winner” regardless of the challenges thrown up by the new U.S. administration, according to the chair of Spanish multinational lender BBVA.

Carlos Torres Vila, BBVA chairman, said the Latin American country has structural economic advantages that will set it apart despite the threat of trade tariffs by President Donald Trump.

“There is always uncertainty, but Mexico is a clear winner of what’s going on because of the structural advantages of Mexico,” Torres Vila told CNBC’s Squawk Box Europe at Davos. “Its labor costs are a fraction of the U.S, and that’s a structural factor.”

He also pointed to the country’s size, its demographic advantage of having a largely young population, and its geographical proximity to the United States as competitive advantages.

“No matter what happens with trade, immigration, drugs, etc — which are all topics that need to be resolved — Mexico will be a winner,” he added.

Earlier this week, Trump said that tariffs could be levied against Mexico and Canada as soon as early February.

“We’re thinking in terms of 25% [levies] on Mexico and Canada, because they’re allowing a vast number of people” over the border, Trump said. The president called Canada “a very bad abuser” and said a target date for the tariffs would be, “I think Feb. 1.”

— Ganesh Rao

NATO’s Secretary-General Mark Rutte hailed newly inaugurated U.S. President Donald Trump’s warning on Wednesday that Russia could expect more tariffs and sanctions if it did not end the war in Ukraine.

“I was very, very happy with the position of Trump to put more sanctions on Russia. We know that the Russian economy is doing terribly bad[ly], and the sanctions will help,” he told CNBC on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.”

He expressed hopes that Europe will now also “step up” with sanctions in a bid to “choke off the Russian economy” and lessen Moscow’s war coffers.

“Trump is right, Ukraine is closer to Europe, but Trump is also right that it is a geopolitical conflict so I’m sure the U.S. wants it to end with a good and strong deal,” Rutte added.

Trump on Wednesday said that, if no deal were reached to end the Russia-Ukraine war soon, the U.S. would “have no other choice but to put high levels of Taxes, Tariffs, and Sanctions on anything being sold by Russia to the United States, and various other participating countries.”

— Holly Ellyatt

The chief executive of British oil and gas firm EnQuest says U.K. energy policy has been “terrible,” accusing the ruling Labor government of overseeing “a lot of decline.”

Asked to compare the approach from the U.S. and U.K. on energy policy, EnQuest’s Amjad Bseisu said there’s a “massive difference.”

At a time when U.S. oil and gas production is already booming, Bseisu that said newly inaugurated President Donald Trump is clearly “pushing hard to maximize value.” Meanwhile, the U.K. is “exactly the opposite,” according to Bseisu, who cited a steep decline in the country’s crude oil production in recent decades.

The energy policies of the two countries are “polar opposites, and it’s terrible. I mean, again, it’s a national emergency for the U.S., one of two, immigration and energy, whereas the U.K. is effectively slowing down investment and bringing the whole industry to a standstill,” Bseisu told CNBC at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

A spokesperson for the U.K.’s Department for Energy Security and Net Zero was not immediately available to comment.

— Sam Meredith

The CEO of French pharmaceutical giant Sanofi doubled down on plans to explore the second generation of obesity drugs, noting that solutions for sustained weight loss were “the next battleground.”

“We’ve decided to go after the second generation, to make sure that we play in what happens next when people have lost the weight — what could that look like? How to maintain that,” Paul Hudson said.

“That’s where the next battleground will be on behalf of those that need it,” he said.

The obesity drugs currently dominating the market, such as Wegovy and Zepbound — often referred to as GLP-1s — have been shown to drive significant weight reduction, but some patients have complained of struggling to maintain lower weight when not using the drugs.

Sanofi, whose own GLP-1 drug failed a mid-stage trial almost half a decade ago, suggested last year that it was exploring the next phase of obesity drugs, which could also include those with reduced side effects and muscle loss.

Meantime, Hudson said Sanofi intended to remain a leader in vaccine production, noting that the company would work constructively with the new U.S. administration, despite vaccine skepticism from President Donald Trump’s top healthcare pick Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

“We just want to get those vaccines out there,” Hudson said. “After clean water, vaccines are the number one contributor to public health. So, over time, it’s early days, we’ll find our way and I’m sure we’ll be well understood.”

— Karen Gilchrist

The chief executive of German industrial giant Siemens says the company is “tariff-proof” amid fears of a possible transatlantic trade war.

Trump, who promised a new “golden age” for America in his inaugural address on Monday, has repeatedly threatened to impose duties on goods imported to the U.S. from the European Union.

Speaking to reporters, Trump said earlier in the week that the EU has been “very, very bad to us. So, they’re going to be in for tariffs. It’s the only way … you’re going to get fairness.”

Asked whether Siemens had concerns about the prospect of additional duties given it is such a large European company, Siemens CEO Roland Busch said: “At the same time we are a global company. So, the largest revenue share comes from the United States, we’re sitting on 25% and this goes up.”

Busch cited the firm’s recent $10 billion acquisition of U.S. engineering software firm Altair, saying the company has been expanding it’s U.S. footprint.

“We are tariff-proof. We are very much local to local, same for other regions, for China [and] for Europe. On the other side, tariffs normally they increase inflation by definition, so it doesn’t really help. So, I think the idea would be what can we do, what kind of deals to make in order to really reduce the trade tariffs to the minimal level,” Busch told CNBC in Davos, Switzerland on Thursday.

“Free trade and low tariffs, I think, is really a driver for growth,” he added.

— Sam Meredith

The Rio Tinto Group logo atop Central Park tower, which houses the company’s offices, in Perth, Australia, on Friday, Jan. 17, 2025.

Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Rio Tinto CEO Jakob Stausholm says China’s industrial development is “simply impressive,” citing the country’s rapid scale-up of clean energy technologies.

“Look, first of all, the industrial development in China is simply impressive. The way they are moving forward with batteries, EVs and rolling out renewables is pacesetting in the world,” Stausholm told CNBC at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland on Thursday.

“But China is facing the same problem as Western economies. They are all short of materials. They are a big importer of materials and so is the West. People are realizing that if you want industrial development, you need supply chain security. That means mining and processing.”

Asked to comment on reports the company recently held merger talks with Glencore, Rio Tinto’s CEO declined to comment.

“I can’t comment on rumors, I would never do that,” Stausholm said.

“The thing you should think about is that I have been quite specific, when I took over four years ago, we were not ready for doing any acquisitions. But what I have said later on is we have got our house in order, we are a stronger company, and we are able to grow organically and inorganically,” he added.

— Sam Meredith

Carlsberg CEO Jacob Aarup-Andersen said the “biggest concern” for his business was future global consumption habits, citing a trend toward alcohol “moderation” among Western consumers.

“Overall alcohol consumption — especially in my category, which is beer — is slightly declining in the Western world,” he said, pointing to a particular trend of reduced alcohol consumption among young people.

The CEO said that while he continues to see a “long-term future” for great beer products, the company was also embracing other drinks categories to boost resilience.

“It’s very important to create resiliency,” he said. “That’s also why we as an industry, we’re pivoting.”

“We’re seeing significant growth in alcohol-free beers. It’s our fastest-growing category,” he added.

Aarup-Andersen said Carlsberg has launched more than 60 alcohol-free brands over the last three years, with more than half of launches over the past 12 months non-alcoholic. With the firm’s recent acquisition of soft drinks maker Britvic, around one-third of Carlsberg’s portfolio will be soft drinks.

— Karen Gilchrist

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks in the Roosevelt Room of the White House while SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son, Oracle CTO Larry Ellison, and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman look on on January 21, 2025 in Washington, DC. Trump is expected to announce investment in artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure.

Andrew Harnik | Getty Images News | Getty Images

Asked about the recently announced $500 billion investment in U.S. AI infrastructure — backed by OpenAI, SoftBank and Oracle and led by the Trump administration — SAP CEO Christian Klein said it was a “wake up call for Europe.”

The investment, known as the “Stargate Project,” was “a great move,” Klein told CNBC’s Karen Tso and Steve Sedgwick on the sidelines of the WEF’s Annual Meeting in Davos.

“It’s the right move, and it’s also about making the government more productive. Look at Europe, we always complain about regulations about too many AI acts … it’s a great role model for Europe,” he said.

He added that he would “absolutely support” a Stargate Project for Europe.

“We do business with all public sectors across the world, of course we would welcome that in Europe,” Klein said. “Europe needs it the most, from my perspective.”

— Chloe Taylor

German Finance Minister Jörg Kukies said it’s imperative that his country “embarks on a path of economic growth” while simultaneously combatting structural weaknesses.

“We’ve just gotten revised down growth forecasts for the IMF again,” Kukies told CNBC’s Karen Tso and Steve Sedgwick at the World Economic forum in Davos.

“It’s really important that we embark on a path of economic growth,” he added.

Kukies became Germany’s finance minister in November, taking over from Christian Lindner, who was sacked by Chancellor Olaf Scholz after months of wrangling and clashes over the economy and budget.

Lindner’s dismissal effectively brought an end to the former German ruling coalition, which was made up of Scholz’s Social Democratic Party, Lindner’s Free Democratic Party and the Green party. That led to Germany’s national election being moved forward to Feb. 23.

“The election is all about economics,” Kukies added.

— Sophie Kiderlin

Germany’s finance minister Jörg Kukies told CNBC some changes were needed to the country’s so-called debt brake.

The fiscal rule — enshrined in the German constitution — limits how much debt the government can take on, and dictates that the size of the federal government’s structural budget deficit must not exceed 0.35% of the country’s annual gross domestic product.

“I do think that there has to be some targeted reforms to the debt bake because we have so much need for infrastructure spend on railways, on roads, on bridges, on education, on 5G, 6G infrastructure etcetera. So a lot of public infrastructure has to be provided,” he said.

“But the vast majority of investment in our country has to come from the private sector. So in that sense, in addition, we also have to set the right incentives.”

Read more about the debt brake here.

— Sophie Kiderlin

The chief executive of Danish wind turbine manufacturer Vestas says U.S. President Donald Trump’s climate retreat appears to have been overblown.

His comments come shortly after the newly inaugurated president, who’s scheduled to remotely address business and political leaders at the World Economic Forum later in the day, swiftly took aim at low-carbon energy initiatives.

In a standalone executive order, which had been widely expected, Trump on Monday suspended new or renewed leases for offshore and onshore wind projects and halted the leasing of wind power projects on the outer continental shelf.

Vestas CEO Henrik Andersen said he didn’t expect Trump’s return to the White House to result in an overwhelmingly negative proposition for renewable energy companies operating in the country.

“The answer there is I don’t think so because if you look at it and if you take Vestas as an example, we’ve got 45 gigawatts installed in the U.S. already — that’s a third of the installment of wind in the U.S. That’s equal to somewhere around 36 or 37 million households,” Andersen told CNBC in Davos, Switzerland.

“So, whatever you see there, that’s a part of what … I call it affordable, very good electricity and green supply in the U.S.,” he continued.

“And you can read it differently and, of course, most of you have read it negatively in saying he declares an energy emergency, and you see it as a negative. I see it as well in this energy transition, we need a lot more of everything,” Andersen said.

— Sam Meredith

Schneider Electric CEO Olivier Blum said his company was a key beneficiary of artificial intelligence innovation, including the United States’ newly announced Stargate AI infrastructure initiative.

“Of course we have a massive boost from the AI initiative in general,” he said, acknowledging his company’s expected links to the project.

President Donald Trump announced a joint venture Tuesday with OpenAI, Oracle and Softbank to invest billions of dollars in artificial intelligence infrastructure in the United States. Schneider Electric last year struck a deal with Nvidia — a leading maker of AI chips — to develop designs for data center cooling systems.

“We are on the two sides of AI,” Blum said, noting that the French automation and energy company both supports AI data centers and employs the technology to help streamline business operations.

“We clearly see that it’s becoming a reality. It helps to amplify everything we do,” he said.

— Karen Gilchrist

Wed, Jan 22 202510:40 AM EST

Infosys, an Indian technology outsourcing firm, has lowered the risk it faces from any potential curbs to U.S. work permits, according to its chief executive.

Salil Parekh, chief executive of the tech giant, said the company had adopted a three-pronged strategy to prevent disruption to its business in case President Donald Trump acts on his threat to curb immigration.

“Over the past five to six years there’s been a change to the way the company operates,” Parekh told CNBC at Davos. “We’ve built what I would call a resilient model.”

The Infosys chief said that 60% of its 40,000-strong U.S.-based employees are not dependent on H-1B visas, the U.S. work permit. He also pointed out that the company now employs 8,000 people in Canada and 2,000 in Mexico as part of its “near-shore centers.”

Lastly, Parekh said Infosys now performs more work offshore — remotely from India — than before.

Standing alongside the technology chief executives of Oracle, ChatGPT-maker OpenAI and Softbank, Trump said Tuesday that he is taking a more nuanced view of the U.S. work permit program and is open to more qualified immigrants coming into the U.S.

“We have to let really competent people, great people, come into our country,” Trump said of engineering employees at tech giant Oracle and OpenAI.

— Ganesh Rao

Wed, Jan 22 202510:42 AM EST

People pass in front of big screen during the speech of US President Donald Trump on January 26, 2018 at the Davos Congress Centre (C), the venue of the annual World Economic Forum (WEF), in the town of Davos, eastern Switzerland. / AFP PHOTO / MIGUEL MEDINA (Photo credit should read MIGUEL MEDINA/AFP via Getty Images)

Miguel Medina | Afp | Getty Images

The big event on Thursday will be President Donald Trump’s keynote address this afternoon. The president, newly inaugurated on Monday to begin his second term in office, is due to address WEF via video link at 5 p.m. Davos time.

Other high-profile figures due to speak on Thursday include Javier Milei, the president of Argentina, whose address starts at 10:15 a.m. local time.

WEF panels will cover themes ranging from “Defending the Cyber Frontlines” to Ukraine’s future, financial fragmentation, tariffs and the Middle East.

— Holly Ellyatt

Wed, Jan 22 202510:38 AM EST

OECD Secretary-General Mathias Cormann on Monday said China’s reopening is “overwhelmingly positive” in the global fight to tackle surging inflation.

Anadolu Agency | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images

On the corporate front, the CEOs of Vestas, SAP and Schneider Electric will be speaking to CNBC Thursday, as well as the Siemens, Carlsberg and Sanofi bosses.

Germany’s Finance Minister Jörg Kukies, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte and the OECD’s Mathias Cormann will also be interviewed.

CNBC-moderated panels include a debate on the technology revolution, featuring Antonio Neri, the CEO of HP, as well as the CEOs of Octopus Energy and iGenius.

— Holly Ellyatt