this is business briefing. i'm david eades. greenback sliding. the dollar slumps to a 3— year low on trade tensions and comments by the us treasury secretary welcoming a weaker currency. and from the world economic forum in davos were in a few hours time the 3000 delegates he will welcome the us president as he arrives with his america first message. and on the markets, asian shares remain close to a record high following a bit of a mixed session on wall street. but the dollar still under huge pressure. we start in the swiss ski resort of davos —

where 3,000 of the world's top business and political leaders are attending the world economic forum. among those arriving today, us president donald trump. what will he make of the theme of this year's meeting — "strengthening cooperation in a fractured world"? concerns over his america first policy have helped send the dollar to a three—year low. us treasury secretary steve mnuchin provoked a further steep fall on wednesday by saying a weaker dollar was ‘good' for the us in terms of trade. this week the president signed new protectionist measures against foreign goods — slapping tariffs of up to 30% on chinese solar panels and up to 50% on south korean washing machines. he has also, of course, threatened to pull out of the north american free trade agreement with neighbours canada and mexico — worth 1.2 trillion dollars. talks to try and save it

are under way this week the stakes are high. china, mexico and canada are the usa's top three trading partners — accounting for over 45% of its foreign trade. the dollar might be suffering — but mr trump's huge tax cuts have propelled us stock markets to record highs. so while some of the davos delegates may disagree with him, many have found themselves a lot richer since he took office. let's get more on this story. sally is in davos. are these protectionist figures, not least so some, they are huge. whatever the business leaders are trying to say to call the anxiety, it is very real, isn't it? it is very real.

absolutely. and as we come to a one year of the trump administration we re year of the trump administration were coming to terms with a new way of trade around the world. globalisation is having to adjust to this new rhetoric coming from the united states. the chairman of the world economic forum was trying to talk about smart globalisation as, you know, heads of state, politicians and company losses tried to readjust to the conversations and the bilateral meetings going on, trying to come up with ways of trading with this new america first division coming quite clearly from the delegation here, the representatives from the white house. i would like to introduce to you my guess, a familiarface, the

chief executive of lloyds of london. she has been here throughout and is by jesting all of she has been here throughout and is byjesting all of this. today she has been here throughout and is by jesting all of this. today we she has been here throughout and is byjesting all of this. today we are discussing the fact that the dollar has fallen to a three—year low following the comments yet they from the us treasury secretary. what do you make of it all? some people say it is extraordinary how strong the language was coming from wilbur ross and the treasury secretary yesterday. there was a strong message but what they are after is looking after america. businesses responding quite well. if you hear some of the us business leaders here at the forum, they have been talking it up and they are quite positive about the impact it will have. for lloyds, we have been doing business in the us for hundreds of years and it is our biggest market. if business does well in the us, lloyds does well. there will be opportunities for us to work with

the us. however, it is the challenge to this globalisation, the question it is asking about protectionism. us, we'd talk about the need to break down detection is. the essence of our business is about sharing risk across the world, from australia to the us, latin america, japan, china. that is how the ecosystem works. is everybody works just within the national boundary, i think we will be headed for an unpleasant world in the future and it will have a major impact on the economy. in the short term, christian luddites from the imf, say we are no suitespot right now but we must not be complacent because it could be quite short term if these fractures become larger. they were talking yesterday, wilbur and steve, that there are more measures to come, come more tariffs and more walls. —— christine lagarde from the

imf. there is a split from the messages coming out from the european leaders are saying that we need to work together. they want a strong europe which i think is important. they are saying that the world needs to work together. this is how we survive and particularly the uk, how the uk has been so successful. it reached out to the re st of successful. it reached out to the rest of the world and invited the re st of rest of the world and invited the rest of the world and invited the rest of the world and invited the rest of the world in. was the heart of our success. talking about the uk, theresa may will deliver a speech this afternoon here. she has a strong message for internet companies, again. she has spoken about this many times, about them being more responsible about the wrecks dream is material and the hate speech, the fake on their platforms. today she will appeal to the delegates he ran to the investors, the shareholders and say that you can have an impact if you

choose social investment, that even —— that is a bit of a buzz word, isn't it? it is important that she gets a positive word out about the uk. there is uncertainty about brexit that she will focus on the future. i brexit that she will focus on the future. lam based in london. i spend a lot of time there. is so much in the tech space. it is quite exciting. businesses like lloyds are embracing technology and saying we need to modernise. ride on the doorstep, in the uk, there are wonderful start—ups and ideas. the fa ct wonderful start—ups and ideas. the fact she is going out and appealing to investors to come and invest in the uk, here we have a future, that is good news for us. thank you so much, we have to leave it there. david, we will have more for you from the world economic forum later but now, back to you in the warm studio. let's go to asia now

where businesses are reacting to president trump's latest moves to penalise foreign imports. electronics giant lg says it will be raising the price of washing machines in the us because of the trade tariffs imposed earlier this week. rico hizon is following the story in singapore. good to see you. america first is not just a slogan, good to see you. america first is notjust a slogan, is it? that is right. lg electronics is wasting no time in reacting to president trump's move to slap steep tariffs on imported washing machines. they are one of career‘s well—known international brands and they sent letters to retailers saying that the tariff will impact on its front and top load washing machines. the price hike follows the us announcement that a 20% tariff will be applied on the first of 1.2 million imported washing machines in the first year

ata washing machines in the first year at a 50% tariff on machines above that number. lg, along with the south korean trade minister have voiced disappointment about the move but the conglomerate said a new washing machine factory being built in tennessee should help ease some of the pressure since those washing machines will not be subject to the tariff. has no announcement so far from samsung electronics on pricing but whirlpool in the us who complained about us competition reported its earnings and embraced the tariff saying it will boost demand for their washing machines. from now on, i'd must have to wash my own clothes... now let's brief you on some other business stories. the chief executive ofjp morgan has told the bbc it could cut its 16,000 uk workforce by more than a quarter if financial rules diverge after brexit. speaking in davos — jamie dimon said ‘more than aooo'

jobs could go if brexit talks failed to produce an outcome close to the current arrangements. ford has reported lower than expected quarterly profits — blaming rising commodity costs and unfavourable currency exchange rates. it warned there was more pain to come this year because of higher raw material prices. the company has admitted it needs to improve its ‘fitness' — rival general motors gave wall street a more positive outlook last week. the number of foreigners visiting the us fell by 4% in the first seven months of 2017. is comes from the us national travel and tourism office. visitors from africa and the middle east seeing the biggest declines. the fall comes despite growth in tourism around the world. some of course, are blaming the policies of president trump. and now — what's trending in the business news this morning... on cnbc: ford has not done enough to be ‘fit‘ says ceo jim hackett.

executives admit the company has not been as prepared as its competitors for rising commodity prices. from forbes: eltonjohn's retirement tour likely to gross more than $400 million. and staying with music — from the wall streetjournal — enrique iglesias sues universal music over streaming royalties the lawsuit claims artists shouldn't be paid for streaming at the same rate they are paid for physical records, which entail higher costs and don't forget — let us know what you are spotting online — use the hashtag #bbbthebriefing. that's it for business briefing this hour — but before we go — here are the markets. the fall in the hang seng is correcting a tiny bit there. the all

ordinaries are up as well as the dow jones. did not forget, that three—year low on the american dollar. scientists say smoking just one cigarette a day is much more dangerous than previously thought. the team at university college london said people should give up rather than cut down because of the risk of heart attack and stroke. our health and science correspondent james gallagher reports. smoking is all full full health as it greatly increases the risk of cancer, heart attack and stroke. you may expect cutting down from 22 nearly one as they would lead to a similar reduction in health problems. it does for lung cancer,

but a study in the british medical journal says some risks remain high. for every 100 middle—aged people who had never smoked, five have a heart attack or a stroke each decade. a 20 attack or a stroke each decade. a 20 a day habit increases that risk to a higher 12 heart attacks or strokes. when people cut down drastically in smokejust once a when people cut down drastically in smoke just once a day, they would still have eight heart attacks from strokes. the team from university couege strokes. the team from university college say the solution is to stop completely. even smoking the odd cigarette here and there or one at two a day still has a major risk of two a day still has a major risk of two common and serious disorders. the implication for gps is that when they deliver smoking cessation services to their patients they can raise this information to try and encourage smokers in a positive way to completely stop rather than merely cut down. researchers think even low levels of tobacco smoke may be altering the way the heart, lungs and blood vessels function, leading

to the increase in risk. cutting backis to the increase in risk. cutting back is still better than doing nothing but public—health england say the safest thing to do is to quit for good. that will draw a lot of attention as you may expect. more of attention as you may expect. more of that later on this morning. coming up at 6am on breakfast, charlie stayt and naga munchetty will have all the day's news, business and sport. also knife crime is on the rise — can scottish authorities help stop violent deaths? this is the briefing from bbc news. the latest headlines: the board of usa gymnastics face mounting calls to quit, over the sexual abuse of young athletes by former team doctor, larry nassar. he's been sentenced to 175 years in prison after testimony from 156 women. veteran us diplomat, bill richardson, has resigned from an international panel set up in myanmar to advise

on the tensions, killings, and expulsions in rakhine state. he criticised what he called a government whitewash over the plight of rohingya muslims, saying aung san suu kyi lacked moral leadership. flood alerts are in place in paris and across france, as water levels keep rising. the seine has already overflowed its banks in some areas, while some metro lines and stations have been closed, along with tourist attractions including notre dame cathedral. it's the country's wettest january for at least a century. the dollar slumps to a 3— year low on trade tensions and comments by the us treasury secretary welcoming a weaker currency.