STORY: French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz sought to project unity at a meeting in Paris on Wednesday after U.S. President Donald Trump said Europe had troubling trade surpluses with the United States and was "in for tariffs."
Scholz called Trump a "challenge," while Macron said Europe was strong but he expected difficulties.
"After the inauguration of a new administration in the United States, it is more than ever up to Europeans, and so to our two countries, to play their role of consolidating a united, strong and sovereign Europe, a Europe attached to trans-Atlantic relations, which also is aware of its own interests and knows how to defend them with its values and its European instruments."
Trump has also threatened Canada, Mexico and China with heavy duties.
JP Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon told CNBC Wednesday that the possibility of tariffs was "a little inflationary, but it's good for national security, so be it."
Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan told Reuters in an interview Tuesday he wasn't concerned that much about the impact of tariffs:
"Our team, Candace Brown and Platinum Research team have put out some papers and again nobody knows exactly what will happen but saying a broad-based tariff or their specific tariffs in 10-15% type of things won't affect the economy that much that the efficiency companies will gain from the regulatory burden lift from just the natural efficiency, they'll pass them through, they'll absorb some and they didn't cause a lot of inflation because they thought companies' profit margins and stuff would absorb that."
Overall, Moynihan said he likes what he hears from the new administration.
"The tone is they want to see the U.S. economy grow and prosper, they want to see the private sector and capitalism continue to drive forward and they want to get the regulatory balance back and the burdens that makes on small businesses and medium-sized businesses."
Other finance executives said they are preparing for a possible increase in market volatility - sparked by Trump's unpredictable use of social media as observed in his first term as president - that will require adjustments but offer rewards for those who can navigate it.
The head of British multinational Standard Chartered said he thinks globally-focused banks will be able to benefit from that disruption in their roles connecting between markets, but locally-focused banks may struggle.