hello. this is business briefing. i'm maryam moshiri. rebooting nafta: mexico, canada and the us battle to save their trillion dollar trade pact — amid president trump's threats to pull the plug. plus — joining the high flyers: why private planes aren't just for billionaires. we take a trip with the boss of netjets and on the markets tech stocks have taken a hit in asia — we'll hear more from babita in singapore in a moment. hello. plenty to get through in a busy programme. we start in washington, where ministers from the us, canada and mexico are in talks to try and save the vast north america free trade agreement —

or nafta — amid threats by president trump to pull out. he says it has cost the us millions ofjobs and wants it shaken up. is he right? let's take a look at the numbers. nafta was signed almost a quarter of a century ago. it now accounts for $1.2 trillion of trade a year — and that makes it one of the world's biggest free trade deals. but has it killed usjobs, as president trump has complained? well, not according to official unemployment figures. in the us they are at a 17—year low — far lower than canada's. mexico's are only lower because so many people leave the country to find work. as president trump has often pointed out, almost 6 million us manufacturing jobs were lost in the decade following the nafta deal. but that has coincided with a massive increase in the amount the us manufactures — annual output, in fact, was up by $800 billion over the same period. this suggests this has more to do with changes in industry —

like automation — than with jobs going abroad. in fact, the us is producing far more stuff with far fewer workers. the bbc‘s kim gittleson has been speaking to mexico's finance minster, who's in washington for the talks. he told her nafta is vitalfor both sides. when we think of trade, we tend to think of goods that only go one way. the truth of the matter is that we have supply chains where cars, you know, parts go back and forth between the borders. many times over. so the supply chains will be disrupted for both sides or for all sides. so clearly it is something that we want to continue to do into the future, because it has worked well for the country. again, i emphasise the part of foreign partners as well. there are obviously ongoing negotiations around nafta. we have heard today that you are between 70 and 80%

there. do you think that you will make it before your presidential collections or by donald trump's may one deadline? the minister of foreign affairs is here in washington today. you know, there is a lot of work being done around this issue, and for us it is important and we think it benefits the whole region. what impact would it have on mexico's economy if there was a failure to reach a new nafta agreement? we like to stay on plan a. our central scenario is that, you know, these negotiations go through. but the negotiations are not there. so we are working on it. to what extent has the uncertainty over nafta negotiations or in general the trade picture globally affected mexico's economy? investors do not like uncertainty. you must have seen some impact? absolutely. don't get me wrong. whenever we provide a

diagnosis for the mexican economy, and we provide what are the uncertain points, trade in that nafta negotiations is certainly one of them. i do what is an overly optimistic and there is certainly concern at how these negotiations go and move. they go both ways, and thatis and move. they go both ways, and that is why it is important to us. that was jose antonio gonzalez anaya speaking to our own kim gittleson there. let's go to asia now — where investors have been selling off technology shares. that's after a leading chip maker raised big concerns about the outlook for the smartphone industry. babita sharma is following the story in singapore. lovely to see you there. tell us more about what exactly was said. good to see you, too. it has been an interesting morning because investors have been caught offguard

by what has happened. it is down to what the taiwan semiconductor manufacturing has been up to. they we re manufacturing has been up to. they were down 7% this morning. this is after they revised their output to the low end of their forecast. tsm is the biggest chipmaker making chips for smart phones international. and that is the problem. smartphone sales have weakened. apple robidas about 20% of their revenue. when they announced wea ker their revenue. when they announced weaker smartphone sales, their shares and that of its suppliers —— those of their supplies fell as well. the weak outlook is not new. we all knew that iphone that was not too popular nor was the iphone eight oi’ too popular nor was the iphone eight ora too popular nor was the iphone eight or a plus. ——

too popular nor was the iphone eight ora plus. —— eight too popular nor was the iphone eight or a plus. —— eight plus. at the moment, they are saying that the sector will remain weak. babita sharma, before you go, have you ever been on a private jet? no. and it is really annoying. i am so jealous of victoria. i knew that you would say that. let's talk private jets now. babita sharma and i have not been on one. but who would not want one at their disposal? the only downside is the eye—watering cost of actually owning and running one. that's where companies like netjets come in — offering shared or fractional ownership of a jet to high end business travellers. one of them was billionaire investor warren buffett, who liked the service so much he bought the company 20 years ago. as you do. so is it still flying high? 0ur transport correspondent victoria fritz hitched a ride with the new boss of netjets to find out. this is how the other half live.

have you got paracetamol? no queues, all the mod cons, and if you are running late, the plain way to you. why? because you own it, when you area why? because you own it, when you are a member of this club. but it comes as “— are a member of this club. but it comes as —— with a price. the new owner took me for a spin to tell me about it. how much is a cost? is that hundreds of thousands of dollars? we would say that you could pay $6,000 per hour. what are the most popular routes? europe, london is really important and central to all the routes. the top ten destinations, and london. london is a key financial hub, a key destination for you. how worried are you and your clients about the brexit effect and the open skies agreement? we saw, especially the beginning, when there was the vote for brexit that there was an emotional reaction, so we saw that

some companies, especially, were looking at other countries, other places in which they could locate their headquarters. but it did not happen, really, in a massive way, at least. so we are prepared to switch to other countries, because our presence is everywhere. but if you ask my personal opinion, i don't think it will happen. warren buffett was once an owner. he is now think it will happen. warren buffett was once an owner. he is now heavily involved through his investment vehicle. how much freedom does he give you as the ceo of the company? there is no daily involvement, so the sake, but he is clear. customer and was satisfied, and had the opportunity, an opportunity we don't have, that i don't have, at least, to buy the company. so he decided to buy. he is a wonderful, awesome ambassador. there are also many

people that in dorset personally, they could be our customers. he is an ambassador that truly believes that he is sharing and advertising something that is really powerful and strong. that is the boss of netjets flying around london with our very own victoria fritz. now let's brief you on some of the other business stories. the bbc has made headlines. the governor of the bank of england has said told the bbc an interest rate rise is "likely" this year, but any increases will be gradual. mark carney said major decisions had to be taken on brexit — which would weigh on how fast rate rises would occur. the pound fell by nearly a cent against the dollar following the comments. shares of shire pharmaceutical surged 9%, taking it to the top of the ftse 100, on the prospect of a bidding war for the specialist drug company. a report by reuters suggested

us drugmaker allergan is considering a bid for shire — something it later denied. earlier on thursday, japan's takeda said it was in talks with shire after having an initial $63 billion bid rejected. and now for a brief look at what is trending in the business news this morning. the business insider reports a survey of top financial executives by duff and phelps — the majority think london will lose its crown as the world's global financial centre within five yea rs. from cnbc, more on the seemingly unstoppable rise of amazon. it's planning a push into clothing sales to overtake walmart as the number one apparel retailer in the us. that is all we have time for on the business briefing. still to come, plenty more, including a look through all of the papers. goodbye from me and the team for now. dame tessa jowell has become the first person to take part

in a new, world—wide database, which aims to eliminate cancer. the former mp was diagnosed with a brain tumour almost a year ago and has campaigned to get better treatment for other patients. catherine burns reports. dame da m e tessa dame tessa jowell. .. baroness jowell will has an aggressive form of breast cancer. early this year she spoke about it in the house of lords. what gives a life meaning is not only how it is lived but how it draws to a close. i hope that this debate will give hope to other cancer patients like me. yesterday

she was back in the house of commons as mps from all sides paid tribute to her in a debate about cancer treatment. baronessjowell says to her in a debate about cancer treatment. baroness jowell says she feels a tremendous sense of mission. it is farfrom feels a tremendous sense of mission. it is far from easy, feels a tremendous sense of mission. it is farfrom easy, though. researchers in this latter tried to find a successful treatment for brain tumours. but with all rare cancers, clinical trials can be difficult because it is hard to find enough patience to take part. now baroness jowell is the first to share her details on the universal cancer data bank. it share her details on the universal cancer databank. it aims to find treatments quickly, especially for red kites of cancer. the data bank the databank aims to share its findings by the end of the year. catherine burns, bbc news. do stay with us here on bbc. coming up at 6am on breakfast,

charlie stayt and naga munchetty will have all the day's news, business and sport. do stay with us on bbc news. this is the briefing from bbc news. the latest headlines: highly critical notes which james comey kept of donald trump, are made public. the queen welcomes commonwealth heads of government to buckingham palace, as she looks to the future of the organisation after her reign. the american government says it has information that syrian and russian forces are trying to sanitise the site of the suspected chemical weapons attack near damascus. now it is time look at the stories that are making the headlines in media across the world. the financial times front page looks at how the bank of england governor has toned down rate rise talks, saying financial markets are wrong to assume a uk interest rate rise in may is a foregone conclusion. voice of the daily telegraph reports that the queen publicly

backs her son, prince charles, to head the "family of nations". the gulf news leads with the us rolling out a long—awaited overhaul of its arms export policy, including a "fundamental shift" in the way the us sells large armed drones. and vox asks whether children under the age of one should be allowed inside the senate, after tammy duckworth‘s baby made history by becoming the first infant to enter the chamber. and finally in the independent, britain's scorching weather. the hottest april since 1949 and what it means for marathon runners. with me is kulveer ranger, vice president strategy and communication at atos uk. a bbc exclusive. , ahmet 0rken to mark tiny, the markets were 80% sure that we were going to get a rate rise, is there doubt on this? mark carney has always tried to play that calm role as the governor, but some mixed messages coming through from him in terms of they have been signalling that they have a strategy

for a gradual rate increase over a period of several years and as a signal to the market many times everytime they sprint to a crescendo ofan everytime they sprint to a crescendo of an announcement, suddenly it is not just yet.