this is business briefing. i'm sally bundock. let's ta ke let's take a look at the main business stories. will president trump's proposed tariffs slam the brakes on europe's mighty car industry? that's the main concern aw the geneva autoshow gets —— as the geneva autoshow gets on the road. the chief executive of japan's third largest steel maker is expected to step down over a scandal involving falsified quality data. and on the share markets in asia, we are seeing a bounceback today — a stronger dollar is helping exporters injapan edge higher. the geneva motor show starts today. it's the largest event of its kind in the world, bringing together car manufacturers and hangers—on from all over the planet.

but among the glitzy product launches, one topic of conversation is likely to dominate this year — president trump's threat to impose tariffs on imports of european cars to the us. so what is at stake for the car industry? if we give you some information. america is the most valuable export market for european car exports — it was worth almost $46 million in 2017. iam hoping i am hoping that we'll appear behind me. that was last year alone. official figures say put the number of european cars exported to america at almost 1.15 million. that will do a lot of cars. but that was a lot of cars. meanwhile, in the same year, car imports from the eu to the us were worth $7,500 million — that's just 233,778 units. but the united states already

imposes a 2.5% tariff on cars assembled in europe. meanwhile, europe imposes a higher 10% tariff on us—built cars. but many german firms, like daimler, bmw and vw, already build many of their vehicles at plants within the united states. in fact, germany's car body, the vda, said their factories in the us made 804,000 units last year — way more than the 494,000 exported from germany. let's get more on this story with ana nicholls, she's the managing editor of industry briefing, at the economist intelligence unit who joins me via webcam from india. just give us your take on this. when

we look at the hard fact and tariffs on us cars coming into europe and vice—versa, it looks like the eu is playing a tough line. it does indeed, and infact playing a tough line. it does indeed, and in fact donald trump is often complaining he is not so much the tariffs that are the problem, but the nontariff barriers getting into the eu market was in several areas, the vessel —— specifications they ask for vehicles are higher. it is quite difficult for cars to get into the european market industry. it is complicated as well. as you say, it is notjust about finished product arriving in europe. and also, as many german car makers have made out, they make their cars in the us anyway. they do make their ca i’s the us anyway. they do make their cars in the us, and about 28% of the german cars sold in the us are actually made in the us will stop but actually, if you look at the plant companies such as bmw in the us, they are actually surprisingly

mostly producing export from the us. the trouble is partly that the global automotive industry is such a globalised industry, and plants specialise in particular types of vehicles. so it may well be that you are not necessarily producing locally for actually the local market, and a bmw plant in south carolina is a case in point that actually, most of them just produce sub than they are mainly going for export from the us. and what is interesting about these kind of trade wars, unfortunately, this was all a kind of unintended consequence ofa all a kind of unintended consequence of a trade war that started off with the steel industry, and has escalated into something could deal with the automotive industry. what is interesting is just with the automotive industry. what is interesting isjust the with the automotive industry. what is interesting is just the war of words around what might happen in terms of tariff barriers, forces companies to take risk avoidance tactics in terms of trying to think

how they would reconfigure all the networks and their supply chains so that they could actually avoid those tariff barriers and start producing locally for local markets. thank you very much. the devil is in the detail as ever and it is something we will unpack further in that programme. president trump's threats to impose tariffs on imported cars have certainly caused a stir ahead of this week's geneva motor show. but most people within the motor industry are waiting to hear more before they decide how to respond. meanwhile, at the show itself, it's business as usual, and the move towards electric cars that's steadily gathering momentum, as theo leggett has been finding out. more convenient motoring is the dream of every car owner in britain. the commuter could well be one of the answers. electric cars have been

around for years. but for a long time, they had an image problem. they were seen as quirky, yes, but slow and unable to go far before the batteries run out. then, tesla came up batteries run out. then, tesla came up long and launched in 2012, it showed that electric vehicles could be powerful, fast and have decent range. the choice was limited. if you wanted a high—performance electric car, you had to buy a tesla. now, that might be about to change. this is the new carfrom jaguar and it is a car attracting a lot of attention here at the geneva motor show. it is a battery electric car, and the reason it matters if it is the first high—performance electric vehicle to come on the market to really challenge tesla's vehicle. let's see what it can do. this car matters because it is sporty, it can do zero to 60 in 4.5 second and it has a maximum range of 300 miles, and as we know, range is

all—important. 300 miles, and as we know, range is all-important. it is the way the market is going, there is no doubt about that. there are still very few battery electric vehicles sold. 0ne in every 200 last year. the market is shifting towards alternative drive vehicles and we are shifting with it. this is off the market. so jaguar may have won the race to be the first real challenge at a tesla at the top end of the market, but it won't be the last. because porsche are bringing out the mission he, and other high—performance elite vehicle. mercedes has something similar in the pipeline and so does audi. so this could soon become quite a crowded market. finally, they have started to be pushed into they have started to be pushed into the mainstream and i think with tax incentives and people wanting less pollution in city centres, i think people are starting to see the benefit of an electric car, and also, they are starting to see that when you drive them, they are quite a bit, luxurious, relaxing thing to be in. of course, most people cannot afford an up market electric car

like this jaguar or tesla. but that is not the point. what they are doing is changing the image of electric cars and make people perhaps more likely to buy something more affordable. arena or a chevrolet or this, a nissan. but mitchell you are a fact about theo, he is a petrol head, so he is bubbly loving being there. you can follow him on twitter. i have retreated some of his tweets already. do take a look if you are more from geneva. let's stale —— let's stay with steel. major upheaval at japan's third largest steel maker where the boss is expected to resign following a quality data fraud scandal. you can see him behind me here. let's go to our asia business hub where mariko 0i is following the story. i'm hoping to be able to talk to her. there you are. brilliant. tell us

her. there you are. brilliant. tell us more, what is his name and tell us more us more, what is his name and tell us more about its future, he is likely to go any time. . his name is colour psyche, and he is the chief executive of the company, as you said. his mate —— resignation was reported this morning but it has not been confirmed just yet. the company is holding a press conference in just under an hour, so we will find out whether the report is accurate. but the company is also expect that to announce some of the details of the external investigation into the scandal that you mentioned. basically, last year, the company admitted to providing, supplying trucks with falsified data to about 500 customers, and that really shook the manufacturing industry, notjust within japan, but around the the manufacturing industry, notjust withinjapan, but around the world, because it is from carmakers to plane, train makers around the world. of course, his resignation on its own is not going to solve the

problem. there are concerns about the compa ny‘s corporate problem. there are concerns about the company's corporate structure, and especially when the company said that these executives knew about this cheating, i don't it was just the big ross himself. at least the company is trying to address those issues, so will continue to monitor what comes out of a press conference. thank you very much indeed, marikojoining us from our bureau in singapore. now, let's brief you some other business stories. this time yesterday with quite big losses yesterday, certainly injapan and elsewhere. in japan, losses yesterday, certainly injapan and elsewhere. injapan, the big carmakers, the likes of toyota, are listed. this time yesterday, there was concern about those trade war comments coming from president trump. in terms of markets, they now seem to feel that his talk will not translate to the most pessimistic policies when it comes to world trade. i will see you in a moment. let's give you more detail on that

story. we are asking for your twitter comments on today will stop that being the news that public health england have challenged the food industry to cut calories in products such as ready meals, sandwiches, pizza and snacks. it's hoped the plans, targeting some of the most popular family foods, could lead to a drop in the number of obese children. 0ur health correspondent adina campbell explains. they are shopping basket staples. as pa rt they are shopping basket staples. as part of the government also plans to curb obesity, health officials are calling on food retailers and tourers to reduce calories by 20% by 2024. public health england says this can be achieved in three ways.

changing the recipes in meals using better quality products. smaller portion sizes, which would help control how much we eat. 0r steering is to buy a lower calorie products in some of our favourite foods. we have announced a 20% calorie reduction programme so that is taking calories out of ready meals, out of peak service, out of savary prepacked sandwiches, savoury slacks and gradually, over time, prepacked sandwiches, savoury slacks and gradually, overtime, improving the recipes so we all eat healthier will stop these posters are on weight health officials are hoping to make us more aware of what we eat. by having a benchmark of 400 calories at breakfast and another 600 for lunch and dinner. it is estimated some children are consuming 500 calories more than needed every day. and with around eight birds leaving primary school overweight or obese, health experts

say britain needs to go on a diet. more on that story at six o'clock. you are with the briefing from bbc news. here are the headlines. a russian man convicted of spying for britain is fighting for his life in hospital, after being exposed to a mystery substance. sergei skripal has been living in the uk since a prisoner swap between russia and the us in 2010. he's being treated in salisbury in the south of england. delegates from south korea are meeting officials in the north for talks, partly aimed at restarting dialogue between the north and the us. north korean leader kimjong—un, who's hosting the visit, says it's his "firm will" to write a new history of national reunification with south korea. unicef has welcomed what it says is a significant drop in child marriages globally. it believes that since 2008, 25 million under—age marriages have been prevented.

unicef says south asian countries have seen the biggest reduction. now it is time look at the stories that are making the headlines in media across the world. we begin with the daily mirror. it leads with the story of a former russian double agent found collapsed in a british street amid suspicions he was poisoned. the japan times reports on the unprecedented face—to—face meeting between delegates from south korea and the north korean leader kim jong—un. politico looks at the italian elections and predicts weeks or months of political instability as the country ponders different alliances to take office.

the telegraph website reports on a campaign being launched today by public health england, warning that britain needs to go on a diet. and vulture turns to the oscars — and how this year's ceremony drew in one of the smallest recorded audiences. but does it really matter, the website asks. so let's begin. with me is alpesh patel, ceo of praefinium partners.