Trump's China Tariff Talk Lifts Stocks; EU's Dombrovskis on Europe, US Ties

US President Donald Trump says he’d prefer not to have to impose tariffs on China. “We have one very big power over China, and that’s tariffs, and they don’t want them,” the US leader told Fox News host Sean Hannity in an interview that aired Thursday in the US. “And I’d rather not have to use it. But it’s a tremendous power over China.” Markets have taken it as a positive sign that Trump stopped short of imposing tariffs on China in his first days in office. In European corporate news, Banca Monte dei Paschi made a surprise offer to acquire larger rival Mediobanca in a deal valued at €13.3 billion ($13.9 billion), adding a new twist in a series of takeover attempts that are shaking up Italy’s banking industry. Also on the show live from Davos today, EU Economy Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis tells Bloomberg’s Francine Lacqua the bloc needs to do more to keep up with the US and China. (Source: Bloomberg)