CEOs counsel taking Trump seriously, but not literally

The stakes are high for companies that have prospered during the era of globalisation

The word in Davos: ignore the tweets. Executives gathered in the Swiss resort for the World Economic Forum this week keep repeating, like a soothing mantra, that Donald Trump is at heart a pragmatist who will avoid trade wars and regulations that make it harder to do business.

“What somebody’s saying is not necessarily what they’re going to do,” said David Cote, chief executive officer of Honeywell International. He should hope so: Honeywell is a global manufacturing giant with far more employees outside the US than in, and it has made major bets on projects like supplying parts for China’s first