tv World Business Report BBC News April 8, 2024 2:30pm-2:46pm BST
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starting in china, where the us treasury secretary is having what she calls "tough conversations" with counterparts in beijing. in recent days janet yellen has been meeting senior officials including the premier li qiang. both china and the united states have a number of key concerns much of it rooted in trade tensions which have been gathering pace for years. dr yellen�*s seeking to navigate these issues and smooth a few feathers in beijing. here's our business reporter david waddell. soon after arriving, secretary yellen addressed us business leaders in guangzhou and promised to address the oversupply of chinese goods in key industries such as electric vehicles and solar panels. on sunday, she met the chinese premier, li qiang, and struck an emollient tone. we've put our bilateral relationship on a more stable footing. this has not meant ignoring our differences or avoiding tough conversations.
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it has meant understanding that we can only make progress if we directly and openly communicate with one another. china's xinhua news agency has accused the united states of fabricating a china threat narrative and criticised washington for erecting trade barriers. but the premier, mr li, seemed optimistic about dr yellen�*s visit. translation: i've read online reports about your visit - and from the moment you touched down in guangzhou, chinese citizens have been enthusiastic and continuously commenting. in fact, this reflects the expectations for the outcome of your visit. china remains angry at us sanctions on its access to advanced semiconductors. it says they are designed to suppress its technological development. it's also concerned at us moves to force bytedance to divest the popular tiktok app. for its part, the us is concerned about tensions over taiwan and in the south china sea.
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china claims taiwan as an inherent part of its own territory, and ownership of some disputed islands in the south china sea. we're witnessing something of a rapprochement, but everything could change later this year if president trump is returned to the white house. that was our business reporter david waddell. well, earlier i spoke with mark williams, who is the chief asia economist at capital economics. he told me the us is very concerned about the competitve threat of china's manufacturing sector. it is quite striking to hear this from janet yellen. she has the reputation of being the most dovish member of the biden administration when it comes to restrictions on trade and investment and technology flows with china. so the fact that she, of all people, is saying this really shows quite how much the thinking in washington has changed over the past few years. it's clear there's a lot of concern about the competitive threat that's coming from china in the sectors
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evs, solar and so on. what's not so clear from what we've heard recently is exactly what the us is going to do about this. janet yellen was asked about this and talked about wanting to see shifts in china's policy. but as to exactly what the us policy is to protect these industries, we don't really know. yes, and that's the issue. and the reason i ask about those jobs is because, of course, it's an election year and president trump is taking onjoe biden for the presidency and therefore protecting manufacturing jobs in some of the industrial heartlands in america is a vote winner. and actually, so therefore, the question is, is this about economics orjust politics? well, i mean, clearly, the political dimension here is huge. but it is also the case that the thinking on the economics of this has shifted a lot over the past 20 years. china joined the wto at the beginning of the century and was generally kind of welcomed
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into the global trading system and there was a sense that it was good for everybody, everybody won from china joining — good forjobs in china, but everybody got cheaper goods as well. but now there's a lot more scepticism about that. now, a cynic would say that part of that is because the areas where china is now competing are those that put it into direct competition, much more with developed countries. so it's notjust china squeezing out kind of low income manufacturers. it's now china competing directly with, for example, the world's auto producers. but i think there genuinely is something there, and particularly in these industries that a lot of people feel are going to be the big industries of the future — batteries, evs, green technology. there's clearly a push back from western governments saying we cannot see it all of this ground to china, we have to do something about it. and do you expect china is looking at what's happening in the us right now and saying better the devil you know, better to deal with president biden than potentially dealing with president trump? well, i'm not so sure about that. i think that if you look over the past few years,
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what the biden administration has done pretty well, actually, has been taking some of the heat out of it. but they've pretty stringent restrictions on china's access to technology. they've successfully built a coalition. so you've had the japanese, the dutch, other governments going along with some of these restrictions as well. so the temperature is lower, but in terms of actually putting pressure on china, in some ways, i think the last four years have been harderfor china than they were during the trump administration, when although there was tariffs put on, china's export sector, actually did very well in the years of president trump. meanwhile, the taiwanese chip giant tsmc has announced that it will build a third factory in arizona, raising its total investment in the united states from $40 billion to $65 billion. tsmc will receive $6.6 billion in subsidies from the us government under the chips and science act. let's speak to our new york business
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correspondent, erin delmore. how does this work? what details do we know? it sorta feels at odds in some respects, doesn't it? with what we're hearing about the threat of china and then a big chinese company investing in the us. just explain this. ~ , ., investing in the us. just explain this. ~ ., this. well, the way that janet yellen would _ this. well, the way that janet yellen would probably - this. well, the way that janet| yellen would probably explain this. well, the way that janet i yellen would probably explain it this. well, the way that janet - yellen would probably explain it is that they are trying to make this production and this technology over to the united states and the overarching goal here is to build up the us semiconductor industry and to try to reclaim some us dominance here so yes, it is idiosyncratic, it is a foreign company but what they would say is that this money, this up would say is that this money, this up to 65 billion total investment in the united states goes towards training american workers, bringing new facilities to arizona and will serve to attract suppliers to the state. . ~ ., ., ,., state. talk to me about the importance _ state. talk to me about the importance of _ state. talk to me about the importance of chip-making| state. talk to me about the - importance of chip-making overall importance of chip—making overall because we know it is somewhere that
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asia has dominated the global market for, but it is an important industry, an important sector, one thatis industry, an important sector, one that is increasingly relevant in everything we use. absolutely true. somethin: everything we use. absolutely true. something that _ everything we use. absolutely true. something that the _ everything we use. absolutely true. something that the us _ everything we use. absolutely true. something that the us dominated l everything we use. absolutely true. | something that the us dominated in everything we use. absolutely true. i something that the us dominated in a decade ago and then we saw production shipped overseas over the last few decades so right now about 10% of chips are made in the united states and the goal of the biden administration is to get that number up administration is to get that number up to 20% by the end of this decade and that is why we are these huge investments which are part of the chips acts which was a big legislative package that was gone through in august of 2022, 50 $3 billion at stake there and they frame it up in two ways, the biden administration. the talking about mother said, administration. the talking about mothersaid, reclaiming us independent and us dominance in this industry but they are also casting it as a national security imperative, saying that the us cannot be reliant on foreign competitors for some of this emerging technology that goes towards powering everything from our smartphones and our cars to our militaryjets and some of the most
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advanced competing we see these days with artificial intelligence. the advanced competing we see these days with artificial intelligence.— with artificial intelligence. the us havinu with artificial intelligence. the us havin: to with artificial intelligence. the us having to pay _ with artificial intelligence. the us having to pay his _ with artificial intelligence. the us having to pay big for— with artificial intelligence. the us having to pay big for it, _ with artificial intelligence. the us having to pay big for it, though, l with artificial intelligence. the us. having to pay big for it, though, as well, saying they will receive $6.6 billion in subsidies, she said. part of that act. and it really does underline quite how seriously the white house takes this and he needed to be dominant in that sector. correct. and there could be even more money flowing. this also opens up more money flowing. this also opens “p “p more money flowing. this also opens up up to $5 billion in loans and it comes right on the heels of an investment that we saw, north of $8 billion for intel. just last month, and something else i will mention to you is that there could be economic outfits from this. also potentially political. arizona is the battleground state and when we looked at those investments in intel last month those were centred around three battleground states as well that they could be a potential benefit here for presidentjoe biden and his re—election effort. benefit here for president joe biden and his re-election effort.— and his re-election effort. always aood to and his re-election effort. always good to talk _ and his re-election effort. always good to talk to — and his re-election effort. always good to talk to you. _ and his re-election effort. always good to talk to you. thank - and his re-election effort. always good to talk to you. thank you. i and his re-election effort. always i good to talk to you. thank you. we will chat later. live in new york and we should clarify, the gas at the start, chinese firm. course it
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is not, it is a taiwanese chip—maker. course it is not, it is a taiwanese chip—maker. airline regulators in the us have begun an investigation after an engine cowling on a boeing 737—800 fell off during take—off and struck a wing flap. the southwest airlines flight was forced to return to denver international airport, aborting its passage to houston. the aircraft had 135 passengers and six crew members on board. none was injured. this latest incident comes as boeing grapples with the aftermath of another injanuary when a door panel blew out mid—air during an alaska airlines flight. earlier our business correspondent, theo leggett told me about the significance of the incident. it looks dramatic on social media. we've seen those pictures of engine bodywork, which is what we're talking about here, flying off an aircraft on takeoff. but i think this is a very different incident to what we saw with the alaska airlines flight in january. that was a brand new plane fresh out of the factory. a doorfell off a disused door because on initial findings, at least, it hadn't been bolted on properly. now, that incident suggested that there were potentially deep seated problems with boeing's
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quality control problems in boeing's factories. a plane went into service when, frankly, a crucial part of it hadn't been attached properly. what we've seen here, though, is a nine—year—old aircraft suffering what in the big picture is a relatively low risk failure. but it does look dramatic. i think on this occasion, the evidence points to not so much a manufacturing problem because the aircraft is a much older one, but potentially, for example, a maintenance problem had somebody been looking at that engine and failed to reattach the cowling after some servicing. and i think that's what regulators are looking for. so for boeing's perspective at least, this is much less of a concern, i would suggest, than what we saw injanuary. in other news: in the uk, the department storejohn lewis has announced its new chairman. the former boss of the supermarket tesco's uk business, jason tarry, will start in september, taking overfrom dame sharon white who said last year that she would be
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standing down at the end of her term. john lewis has come under increasing pressure in recent years. it has closed stores and cutjobs, but recently announced a return to profit. a brazilian supreme courtjudge has opened an inquiry into elon musk after the multi—billionaire said he would reactivate accounts on the social media platform x that thejudge had ordered to be blocked. mr musk posted on the platform that the restrictions had been lifted because the court order was unconstitutional. if x fails to comply with the order, it will be fined around $20,000 a day. there was a lot of optimism around the world particularly in the us last week and it was of the idea that interest rates could start to fall. remember, so many are reading
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the mood music coming from central banks around the world. that has sorta been the start for a new week. let me quickly show you what is happening in the us, if i can. but thatis happening in the us, if i can. but that is in asia. we will keep a close eye on more for you a little bit later. see you soon.
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some breaking news at this hour in the case of the murdered footballer cody fisher on boxing day 2022. two people have been jailed cody fisher on boxing day 2022. two people have beenjailed for cody fisher on boxing day 2022. two people have been jailed for life for the murder of the footballer cody fisher. gordon and carpenter have just had their sentences, both given life terms for the murder of the footballer cody fisher. gordon must serve 26 years before he is eligible
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for parole and carpenter must serve a minimum term of 25 years. anderson was sentenced to 18 months for affray and this case has just happened with the court sentencing and this was in relation to footballer cody fisher who was stabbed to death by a masked man at a nightclub in birmingham in december, boxing day, december2022. we will bring you much more on that as soon as we can. we are going to turn to sport now. breaking news on everton. lizzy has got all the latest. everton have been deducted two points for a second breach of the premier league's profit and sustainability rules. it's their second points deduction this season and leaves them 16th in the table, two points above the relegation zone. well let's go live to our correspondent laura scott and laura, clearly two points isn't good but it could have been so much worse for everton couldn't it?
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