this is business briefing. i'm david eades. open for business: president trump hosts european bosses at the world economic forum in davos. they love the tax cuts, but what about the protectionism? yes, that's the question on the lips of many of the delegates here at the world economic forum in davos. there is much expect haitian and some trepidation as to what will be in the president's speech. also coming up: boeing versus bombardier. us regulators will rule later on a dispute between the planemakers, with thousands ofjobs at the canadian firm at risk. and on the markets, the market in america on the highs. hang seng up as well. another very successful week for most of the markets. it was a big friday for davos and we

will start once again focusing on the swiss ski resort. us president donald trump will address the world economic forum in a few hours‘ time. he‘s expected to defend his ‘america first‘ approach to international trade, as well as calling on global business leaders to invest more in his country. many of them will be concerned about the rise of protectionism. but the trump administration says they shouldn‘t be. in the words of senior white house economic advisor gary cohn: "america first is not america alone". the argument goes that if the world‘s biggest economy is doing well, the whole world benefits. this week the international monetary fund upgraded it‘s global growth forecast to 3.7%, partly because of president trump‘s tax cuts. but is the protectionist rhetoric having an effect?

last year, foreign direct investment, when companies invest in foreign countries, fell 16% around the world. in north america, the fall was even bigger — 33%. despite that, the us was still the most popular country to invest in, attracting more than $300 billion from abroad. on thursday evening president trump hosted a dinner for the bosses of europe‘s top companies, the likes of nestle, siemens and adidas. that was all to convince them to invest more money in the us. i just want to say that there has been a lot of warmth, a lot of respect, for our country, and a lot of money — billions and billions of dollars is coming into the us, and people are very happy with what we‘ve done. not only on the tax bill, but cutting of regulations and i think also being a cheerleader for our country. you know, if you are not

a cheerleader for your company or your country, no matter what happens it‘s not going to work. a country is much like a company, from his perspective. sally of course is in davos. soaking it allup! soaking it all up! regardless of the talk about protectionism, the us is still the place that 70 companies wa nt to still the place that 70 companies want to get their money into. indeed. they want a piece of the action. the us economy is doing very well, as you just said. anand shall markets have had such a long stellar run markets have had such a long stellar i’ui’i “ markets have had such a long stellar run —— financial markets. companies are coming out with the earnings and earnings projections that match the rise in some of the share prices on some of these companies and they are looking to expand, looking to invest. so global companies want to

come in and many are announcing plans to invest, plans to build products in the united states and have a new factory employing more people. it‘s an interesting scenario but we are hearing a lot about donald trump‘s respect if and his team‘s perspective on trade. now i wa nt team‘s perspective on trade. now i want to bring you another perspective. i am joined want to bring you another perspective. iam joined by want to bring you another perspective. i am joined by the of three international trade centre. you are here in davos. what you make of president trump‘s message of american first? we have this fundamental question, does this mean he puts the interest of his country at the heart of his policies? every country does that. or does this mean that he is disengaging from international corporation? at he will do that while not working with others to address the interrelations that we have in our economies, and international trade? the jury is

out. to be more sovereign some think you need to disengage from the world. but others feel it is better if you co—operate. world. but others feel it is better if you co-operate. thejury world. but others feel it is better if you co-operate. the jury is out. from your point of view, are more barriers going up at the moment dan there are in terms of cooperation? at the start of the week we had the news of fresh tariffs on steel products going into the us from asia. since then south korea has filed an official complaint with the world trade organization. from your perspective is it getting worse or better? we've always been these squeamish as in the international trade scene. we‘ve got measures which by the way are a big lesson, showing that we have a system of rules where when people don‘t feel that the rules are being applied in a fairway, and the us can say that i‘m at korea also says that, they can go back to the policeman and ask for a resolution on this matter. so we are seeing for a resolution on this matter. so we are seeing measures for a resolution on this matter. so

we are seeing measures being taken, but we are also seeing other countries move forward, transpacific countries move forward, transpacific countries have decided to move forward to do more trade openings. the eu and japan have decided to do more trade openings. so you‘ve got a bit of both. this is a fractured world that we are discussing here in davos. 0k, thank you very much. that was the executive director of the international trade centre. you are getting a sense of the different viewpoints, giving perspectives on where we are heading in terms of global trade. thank you very much. we got a real example on that whole issue of trade —— we‘ve got. later today us regulators decide whether to back huge tariffs, or taxes, of 300% on imported planes made by canadian firm bombardier. thousands ofjobs could be at stake, including many here in the uk. samira hussain reports now from new york. this test is the pride of bombardier‘s fleet and the source of

one of the most bitter trade disputes between canada and the us in recent memory. how many more job losses? these workers in northern ireland could end up paying the price. big orders of bombardier‘s c series planes from american buyers pondered cries of an setka petition from us plane making giant boeing. complaints that fell on receptive ears in the white house, which has been trumpeting americans —— america first when it comes to trade policy. there is no question that the trump administration has sent out the message to companies in the us, that it is much more supportive of these sorts of actions and that they are likely to get a more favourable hearing in washington that might have been the case in previous administrations. last year the us commerce department slapped tariffs of almost 300% on any c—series plane

coming into the us, physically blocking the fleet from the american market. bombardier took their complaints to international trade commission, which will make its ruling on friday. bombardier is the largest private employer in northern ireland. war than 1000 employees are directly on the c series planes. many people here could therefore be out of a job. we have a great relationship between the uk and us... relationship between the uk and us. .. which relationship between the uk and us... which is relationship between the uk and us. .. which is wide both theresa may and canadian prime ministerjustin trudeau have spoken personally with us president donald trump about this dispute, raising the stakes on what would otherwise be an ordinary argument between two companies. in all of this —— and all of this comes as both the uk and canada have an eye on negotiating good trade deals with the united states. but this dispute about bombardier could be a sign that easy trade relations with

the trump administration is anything but certain. now let‘s brief you some other business stories. billionaire investor george soros has attacked tech monopolies such as facebook and google, calling them a threat to democracy. at his annual dinner at the world economic forum in davos, mr soros raised concerns about the power of social media platforms to shape people‘s attentions, saying they were "obstacles to innovation". intel has beaten wall street earnings expectations and given a bullish forecast for this year, thanks to strong sales of chips to data centres. it‘s a key growth business as it moves away from the declining pc industry. the boost comes despite revelations of security flaws in its chips that could allow hackers to steal data from computers. rapper 50 cent has discovered that he is a bitcoin multi—millionaire, thanks to some long—forgotten album sales. in 2014 he became the first artist

to accept bitcoin as payment, earning around 700 bitcoin, but then forgetting about them, according to celebrity newsite tmz. at current prices they are worth as much as $8 million. and now, what‘s trending in the business news online this morning? from bloomberg, the eu is open to the brexit transition lasting beyond 2020, sources say. business insider: walmart is teaming up with one of the world‘s biggest e—commerce companies to take direct aim at amazon. and from quartz: norway is the best country in the world to live in, according to the world economic forum. tell us what you are spotting. use the hashtag bbcthebriefing. a quick look at the markets. the dow

jones is still up. everyone is up. thanks for watching. the number of pot—hole related breakdowns on british roads is rising, with the rac blaming bad weather and a lack of investment. councils say they would need to triple their road repair budgets to tackle a vast backlog of potholes. our transport correspondent victoria fritz has more. they can cost hundreds of pounds worth of damage and although councils feeling 2 million potholes the year it seems like britain‘s holes are cut —— rumble on faster they then can be repaired. you try

to avoid them but you can‘t. you only have to drive around them.|j ta ke only have to drive around them.|j take my children to school and come across quite a few potholes on the way. it's a bit dangerous. it seems like after the horrible weather when you have ice, they all we seem to appear. normally potholes develop after wet and cold weather, but the rac says it is seeing the number of brea kd owns rac says it is seeing the number of breakdowns caused by driving in potholes increase, regardless of the season. rac patrols attended 2830 potholes will eat it recounts between october and december of last year. that‘s 11% more than the same period the year before. vehicles they attended typically suffered damage to shock absorbers, broken suspension and punctured wheels. local roads have suffered from years of underinvestment and we would like to see ring—fence funding put in place so councils can plan their work appropriately and really sort out the problem once and for all. the government says it is investing

£23 billion to increase capacity and improve road journeys. the majority of that will go on major roads and motorways, with budgets under increasing strain the pressure is mounting on councils to plug the gaps in local roads where most journeys begin or end. there will be more on that at 6am, on breakfast. charlie stayt and naga munchetty will have all the day‘s news, business and sport. this is the briefing. the latest headlines: donald trump‘s set to give his keynote speech at the world economic forum in davos. the first american president to address the gathering for 18 years is expected to reiterate his "america first" message — promoting us trade. casey affleck has said he won‘t attend the oscars this year. he was expected to present this year‘s best actress award. the actor has been accused of sexual harassment by female crew members

on previous films — those are claims that he denies. voting gets under way shortly in the czech republic in the second round of the country‘s presidential election. polls show the two candidates, incumbent milos zeman and challenger jiri drahos, are neck and neck. and coming up in the business briefing — boeing versus bombardier. us regulators to rule on a dispute between the planemakers, with thousands ofjobs at the canadian firm at risk. time now to have a look at the stories that are making the headlines in media across the world. we are going to start with the telegraph, which leads with a warning from the uk‘s defence secretary that russia could cause mass casualties by crippling crucial energy supplies. gavin williamson said that moscow had been researching britain‘s critical infrastructure and how it connected to continental power supplies. the times is reporting us

president donald trump‘s visit to the uk later this year has now been confirmed. it‘s believed that mr trump will come to britain this summer for a working visit likely to include a meeting with the queen. the independent‘s business pages look a comments made byjpmorgan‘s chief executive, jamie dimon, who said the investment bank may have to cut more than 4,000 uk jobs if britain doesn‘t secure a brexit deal which is close to the status quo. the guardian is focusing on american jobs and asks whether the working class are truly benefiting from president trump‘s economic agenda. the paper writes that the republican party is currently rolling back much