this is business live from bbc news, with samantha simmonds and alice baxter. president trump signs steep new tariffs on steel and aluminium imports to the us. mexico and canada are exempt, for now. but is a trade war coming? live from london, that's our top story on friday 9 march. as president trump signs off new tariffs on steel and aluminium imports, major trading partners condemn the move, calling it a "serious attack" on international trade. also in the programme. asian markets rise on the news that president trump is to meet north korean leader kim jong—un in person. a quick look at the markets in

europe, all in the read so far. —— red. and we'll be getting the inside track on the week in tech. president trump has been asking whether violent video games have a role to play in preventing gun violence. and why has amazon's home assistant alexa started laughing? all that with our resident tech guru rory cellan jones. today, steel tarrifs. tomorrow, potentially higher prices on things like peanut butter and blue jeans. are you worried that a trade war will make imported goods more expensive? let us know what you think. just use the hashtag, #bbcbizlive. hello and welcome to business live. major us trading partners have condemned president trump for signing new tariffs on steel and aluminium imports. china described it as a "serious attack" on the system

of international trade while the french economy minister said there were "only losers" in a trade war. the import duties will go into effect in two weeks‘ time. kim gittleson in new york explains how the sanctions will work. so you have been hearing about these tariffs for over a week now. we have to protect and build our steel and aluminium industries. president trump has finally signed the proclamations that make these tariffs a reality. so what do you need to know? the first thing is they fulfil a key campaign promise president trump made to american steelworkers. as of march 23 there will be a 25% tariff on imported steel and 10% tariff on imported aluminium. not everyone will be subject. mexico and canada will be exempt because the us is negotiating with them as part of the north american free trade agreement, and in a white house that

likes a show it has invited countries around the world to apply for exemptions. countries must first show they are not a threat to national security but it pays to remember these tariffs aren't popular. they have been rejected by key foreign allies, many members of the republican party and many in the industries president trump has said he hopes to help. including this korean manufacturer in phoenix. we can import a lot of specialty steel from europe and will have to continue to import from europe because it is not available in the us. for that steel we purchase from europe it will cost 25% more. why should the rest of the world care? these significant tariffs of aluminium and steel mark a significant departure away from decades long policies towards free trade in favour of a more protectionist stance by the trump administration. and they could be the first shot at an ongoing global

trade war. charles de lusignan is the spokesperson for the european steel association and hejoins us from brussels. we have heard this week from the european commissioner for trade warning that the eu could potentially go to full take in reciprocal tariffs, we had from donald tusk saying politicians on both side of the atlantic need to act responsibly. is this robust response particularly the kind from the eu what we should be hearing from the eu? will it help soften the impact of what donald trump has said or will it heighten the prospect of a trade war? hello. like you the having me on.

what the commissioner has put forward is a three pronged approach involving a complaint to the wto, safeguards against trade deflection of products, and finally a list of retaliatory measures. the list has been specifically calculated to be ofa been specifically calculated to be of a value equivalent to the estimated foregone loss of exports of steel to the us. the eu does not wa nt of steel to the us. the eu does not want a trade war, their measures are titrated to show the us —— are calculated to show the us they are reciprocal and not aggressive. there are fears some of the steel that was previously exported to the us might now come to europe, are you concerned? yes, the us imports every year 35

million tonnes under the scope of what they have covered in the measures and we estimate as much as 20 million could turn around to europe, many of the same countries in the top ten of us exporters are the same who go to europe, brazil and turkey are large exporters to the us, they will head straight to the us, they will head straight to the eu. trade deception could have a larger effect on the industry than the loss of exports. we know those concerns within the eu will be raised in —— on saturday, that the eu should be excluded from these tariffs, how hopeful are you? in the announcement yesterday by tramp he equated being lifted, excluded from tariffs with spending more on nato commitment —— i donald

trump. the us has always provided the cover in europe and what it is true nato allies could spend more, linking it to trade and steel and kicking off a trade war seems like an odd way. 1596 an odd way. 15% of europe's still goes to the us, what will happen with that steel? if it is eu steel exports, the reality is that might result in production cuts along with the trade deception immediately causing 25,000 eu jobs at risk fletcher deflection. there may be a game in the us of jobs, our estimates suggest there could be 104 days it's as job losses

there. president trump alleges he is a business man but making a product that your country relies on, will have an effect on your competitiveness. cars, construction ofa competitiveness. cars, construction of a steel which will be 25% more expensive which will have a very serious effect on us competitiveness downstream in addition to knocking heads off the steel industry in europe which has onlyjust seen a slow recovery. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news. inflation in china rose to 2.9% in february, well above forecasts and flirting with the government's newly set 2018 goal of around 3%. it was the fastest pace of consumer inflation since november 2013. 11 asia—pacific countries have

signed the trade pact known as the trans—pacific partnership. signed the trade pact known as the tra ns—pacific partnership. although the us pulled out last year the deal was salvaged by the remaining members. former us president barack obama is in advanced talks with netflix on shows, according to a new york times report. netflix will pay the family for exclusive content on its video streaming service. asian markets rallied on friday, on hopes that north korean nuclear tensions might be easing. investors responded to us president donald trump accepting an invitation for face—to—face talks with north korean leader kim jong—un. sarah toms has more. welcome, bring us up to date on how the markets reacted ? it should be no surprise markets

across asia were up today, in south korea, the best day in ten months. and injapan. korea, the best day in ten months. and in japan. this korea, the best day in ten months. and injapan. this meeting between donald trump and kim jong—un comes asa donald trump and kim jong—un comes as a huge relief because investors don't want conflict and they do not wa nt don't want conflict and they do not want it especially between the world's most volatile leaders who called each other the rocket man for example. the region is vital to global shipping and manufacturing. any kind of escalation could disrupt trade, and any economic activity. what is interesting about this meeting is what does it actually say about the state of the north korean economy and how badly is it doing as those sanctions begin to take effect

and start to bite. thank you. here are the markets. asian markets rallied on the back of peace hopes. there was already some optimism on the markets after mr trump earlier left the door open for possible exemptions on us tariffs on steel and aluminium. little reaction to news those import ta riffs little reaction to news those import tariffs were going ahead. hong kong's hang seng edged up 0.7%. in europe. there's a sense of disbelief among some market analysts as the announcement of new us tariffs which had been stoking fears of a global trade war, fails to deliver the predicted sell—off. there will be reaction with the us job figures. a month ago those figures impacted quite significantly, massive falls across the world. joining us is tom stevenson, investment director at fidelity international. we have had some breaking news, the

uk is going to seek an exemption from president trump's tariffs, we heard from liam fox who says he will travel to washington next week to discuss the new duties and says we will be looking to see how we can maximise our case for exception under these circumstances. the uk will ask for an exemption. all of this talk about tariffs has exerted a robust response —— response from the eu and now the uk, are we in danger of moving towards global protectionism? when donald trump was elected a year ago it was a double edged sword. people worried about his protectionism, his nationalism, but

they looked on the positive side with tax reforms and infrastructure spending. in the first year debate focused on the positives. more recently we have seen the protectionist angle coming to the fore. britain would be the only one an exemption. to impose tariffs on the basis of national security is a nonsense, with canada, europe and the uk, it makes no sense. it is interesting how donald trump is framing the debate. it is targeted at china. china will probably be least affected by these measures. the markets have taken it in their stride. they don't think it is likely to happen in the form being presented. we can be a bit more relaxed. having

a look at the markets, and the us job figures due to be out, the markets are steadying themselves. attention will be paid to them because a month ago when we had those figures they caused a wobble in the markets. we will see strong figures again, 200,000 jobs created, and implement at 4%, as low as 17 yea rs and implement at 4%, as low as 17 years ago at the peak of the dot—com bubble. that is what investors are worried about, that it will lead to bond yields rising, interest rates rising. we will see you later. thank you. still to come. we look back at the week in tech. why has amazon's home assistant alexa started laughing unexpectedly? we'll look at this and other stories with our resident tech guru rory cellan jones. you're with business live from bbc news. restaurant chain wagamama has been

fined an undisclosed amount for failing to pay staff the national minimum wage. it's among 43 employers in the hospitality sector on the government's latest list of firms breaking the law. wagamama's hr director thomas heierjoins us now. this happened on your watch. are you responsible for this? yes, it has happened and it was brought to our attention in 2016 and we address did —— addressed it and subsequently introduced a uniform supplement that we pay to all of our people from here on in. you said this was down to an inadvertent misunderstanding

and about uniforms and the fact that staff were told to wear a certain uniform you didn't offer to pay for it. we've now had to recompense people in your company was the worst offender in this latest naming and shaming list that is damning indictment. just to respond to what you said, it was about as asking people to wear the colour black on the bottom half of their body, so blackjeans, shirts, the bottom half of their body, so black jeans, shirts, trousers the bottom half of their body, so blackjeans, shirts, trousers and shoes. we do provide a branded t—shirt or top and ultimately we were not aware that by stipulating black we were in breach of the legislation. had we stipulated dark, we might not have been on the list. but you are an hr director, so isn't it yourjob to be on top of this? you are right, and we need to learn from that as a business. are you surprised you are still in a job? we are now dealing with that. i'm surprised you still have yourjob?”

wasn't here when that happened but i do take accountability for it and honestly i'm working with the team to move forward from here on in. you are off the hook. banks were talking to us. the institute of directors has suspended its chair, ladyjudge as it examines claims about her conduct that include racist, sexist and bullying behaviour. it issued a one line statement this morning as the council took the decision having received an executive summary to suspend the chair pending further investigation. much more on the bbc website. you're watching business live. our top story. china has condemned big steel and aluminium tariffs signed off by mr trump as an attack on the global trade system. a quick look at how markets are faring. it is largely shrugging off these

potential murmurs of a trade war, although european markets have opened slightly in the red this morning. and now let's get the inside track on this week's big tech stories with our resident tech guru rory cellan—jones. do you like being called a guru? i feel we should all sit there cross—legged. rory, good morning. your first story is about trump is holding a video games conference or meeting of the back of that awful shooting in florida school last month. as we know, very little news out of the donald trump white house in the last 24 hours, but this is the big news, a summit with a video game industry. one of these things where the video game industry is cynical about this. it is felt around the world that it's an easy punchbag for politicians. but there is concern around the world about the impact of video games on young people and whether it promotes

violence. i think the video games industry would say that the same games are played in the uk, australia as in the us yet we have different levels of gun violence. exactly. they would have pushed back about this. each side says it is a fruitful meeting and i don't think much will come out of it. you tube, they are rallying over its content with advertisers following a problem. there have been a number of stories that has blown up about google and its ability to deal with extremist videos and unpleasant content. there is a far right video that kept popping up despite the fa ct that kept popping up despite the fact you tube said it had taken it down. and a more interesting row

involving a right wing conspiracy site in the us, info wars, which is legal in the terms of youtube and might not want to take that site down. but advertisers discovered that their messages were appearing alongside this material and they we re alongside this material and they were shocked at that. this really highlights the whole debate about online advertising. online advertising was supposed to promise absolute targeting and control and the impact of the ads and it's turned out to be not the case. advertisers are finding they give their money to google and youtube they appear in places they don't wa nt they appear in places they don't want them to be and they are cross about it. have you been hearing strange cackling in your house? there is always strange cackling in my house. you are obviously talking

about the story of the week, the amazon smart speaker, let's hear it. it isa amazon smart speaker, let's hear it. it is a bit creepy. this is one of those funny things and there has been talk of a long time about unexplained things happening with their smart speakers. i was sat in front of a popular quiz show in the ukafew front of a popular quiz show in the uk a few months ago and my amazon eco piped up with, i don't know the a nswer to eco piped up with, i don't know the answer to that question. but what happened this week was that people reported unexplained laughter. you are supposed to have two acts of eight —— activate the alexa.“ are supposed to have two acts of eight -- activate the alexa. if i said alexa, laugh, you could hear alexa devices responding, the amazon said that was what was happening. people said they didn't realise they we re people said they didn't realise they were joining people said they didn't realise they werejoining the words people said they didn't realise they were joining the words alexa and then laugh, and that is why it was happening. they have changed the command so you have to say, can you

laugh? and then it utters a very disappointing td. imagine if you heard the tackle and who did not have a alexa. that is a different story. always good to talk to you, rory. first, a quick reminder of how to stay in touch. stay up—to—date with the business news as it happens on the live page. there is insight and analysis from the team of editors around the globe. and we wa nt to editors around the globe. and we want to hear from you as well. get involved on the bbc business live web page. what you need to know when you need to know it. what other business stories have the media then taking an interesting? late kick off,

before we look at some of the stories that caught our eye. —— before we kick off. people were talking about the cost of things like levis, whiskey, the favourite us brands with those things going up. we had some responses, william said, i buy new zealand peanut butter, i'm not fond of harley—davidson. quite specific items. another comment on the alexa to story. jerome said he activated his this morning. so the cackling is not asked. —— is not ours.|j his this morning. so the cackling is not asked. -- is not ours. i do have a alexa but i had to put it away in a alexa but i had to put it away in a drawer because mrs stevenson was unhappy with the idea of people listening into our conversations, and quite right too. let's head back

to the financial times about a story about a property conference that happens every year in the south of france. the ft is asking, in the current climate, how much money it costs the these sort of events, is this something that the property sector should be investing its time and money in? full disclosure, you been to this conference. yes, many yea rs been to this conference. yes, many years ago, and in a very different world. i used to go to it as a reporter to report on the property industry and, sadly what people say about these events is true. the world has completely moved on in the 25 years since i went. i went in the early 90s. i suspect an awful lot of companies will be thinking twice about whether they really want to do this and how it looks to the outside world and whether that is worth it.

people who have gone in the past have said there is a seedier side to these unofficial events. i won't put you on the spot and ask if you saw any things like that. but they did break the story about the president's club in the behaviour of some of the men there, who behaved badly. do you think there will be an end to this kind of thing and an end to this type of conference, just briefly? as i say, many companies will look and weigh it up, is it worth it? there are networking advantages to this conference but if it looks bad to the customers, is it worth it? interesting. good to see you this morning. thanks for getting in touch on twitter. keep your thoughts coming in as it's always good to hear from you. thanks for joining us. it's a rather cold and frosty start

to the day for many parts of the uk. snow showers are affecting the far north of scotland but generally speaking you can see by the bright lights in the cities you have a clear and sunny start the many but if you look to the south—west you have an area of cloud which will move further north. with that cloud, some outbreaks of rain moving into devon and cornwall and then southern parts of wales and the south—east of england by the end of the afternoon. the further north you are, the drier and sunnier it gets and we have lost those snow showers across scotland and maximum temperatures at about eight or 11 degrees. through the evening, the rain will spread to the north and eventually into southern scotland, and some heavy pulses of rain tonight. the far north of scotla nd rain tonight. the far north of scotland will be below freezing, but those temperatures are way above

about six to nine celsius. into the weekend we have outbreaks of rain that will to move north but behind it we have some milder air moving m, it we have some milder air moving in, so you can see by the orange colours that the mild air is moving northwards. it might feel a bit like spring over the weekend in the north. looking over the weekend, heavy rain at times, more on saturday but it will turn milder with the temperatures way up into double figures. this is saturday and heavy rain will continue to push further north into scotland and the chance of some snow over the grampians and highlands as we bump into the cold air and it will stay chilly through the day across scotla nd chilly through the day across scotland with temperatures around six or 7 degrees. elsewhere, brighter skies developing on saturday afternoon but as i said, those temperatures may be 14 or 15 degrees in the best of the

brightness. the rain will push further north into scotland, clear spells into sunday morning, one or two patches of mist and fog but generally speaking sunday will be a dry day with bright spells developing here and there. a chance of maybe one or two heavy showers clipping the far south east, but otherwise, plenty of sunny spells and temperatures across northern areas turning a bit milder, nine or 11 degrees, and elsewhere temperatures in double figures. goodbye. hello. it's friday, it's nine o'clock. i'm chloe tilley. welcome to the programme only months after donald trump threatened north korea with "fire and fury" and described kim jong—un as "little rocket man" — the us president has agreed to an offer to meet the country's leader. it's a move described by south korea as a "milestone for peace". he expressed his eagerness to meet president trump as soon as possible. president trump officiated at a briefing and said he would meet kim jong—un by may, to achieve

prominent denuclearisation. it's the first time ever a sitting us president will have met a north korean leader. we'll ask what the historic meeting might achieve.