this is business briefing. i'm sally bundock. kicking the can down the road. trump's decision on trade tariffs is delayed for another month winning a temporary reprieve for europe, canada and mexico. and we'll be in california, where thousands of facebook software developers are gathering, with many anxious about the fallout from the firm's privacy scandal. and on the markets, japan is open again but under pressure due to disappointing forecasts from sony and honda, electronics and banking stocks among the biggest losers. a fairly flat day, though. let's get started. president trump has delayed a decision on whether to impose steel and aluminium tariffs

on key trading partners. in march, the us imposed import tariffs of 25% on steel and 10% on aluminium on the grounds of national security. but the eu, canada and mexico were given a temporary exemption from the import taxes, the exemption was about to expire, but it's been extended untiljune. one country which hasn't received any exemption at all is china, which currently has a $375 billion trade surplus with the us. with me is greg swenson, a partner at merchant bank brigg macadam, and a member of republicans overseas. good to see you. this is seen as good news that president trump wants to the talk more before any decision? i think so, to the talk more before any decision? ithink so, it's to the talk more before any decision? i think so, it's kicking the cam down the road but there needs to be time to renegotiate

these trade packs so good news. where do we go from here, a good deal with europe and canada and mexico wanted? definitely. probably better ways of doing this but isolating china the purpose from the get go. trump has a different way of doing things, it's a bit disruptive, thatis doing things, it's a bit disruptive, that is his style, so he needed to throw a grenade in the room and hopefully things will settle down by doing the first. in terms of what this means for europe, canada and mexico, europe has been ready to say what it would do in terms of retaliation, it would slap tariffs on certain goods. if trump went ahead, it was a difficult situation for a time but we've just had emmanuel macron in washington, which looked very reciprocal, but at the same time, i don't know if you heard his speech in congress, it was quite

fiery, aimed at trump and this trade war. the reception was great for him and he did very well. i think trump, as well as his advisers, the adults in the room, nobody wants a trade war, it is disruptive to markets and basically a tax on the consumer of both countries and ultimately it doesn't work. the news is good that they are at the table and they want to figure this out. there needs to be some corrections to what china is doing but there's a better way to do it. the north american free trade agreement is also being negotiated, thatis agreement is also being negotiated, that is critical for canada and mexico and presumably they are intertwined? i'm confident about that. it's been a good agreement for all the parties, it needs to be changed and updated, it is 20 years old, but i'm confident that will work. we often report about what people are saying about the trade war scenario, the likes of christine lagarde at the imf and those who

have been vocal about the danger of this rhetoric and discussion in terms of global trade and the desire for free terms of global trade and the desire forfree trade, terms of global trade and the desire for free trade, how is it being interpretative in the us amongst those voting in the midterms? that's the concerned, there's lots of campaign rhetoric and there's a difference between rhetoric and governing. the good news for the administration, in my opinion, is for business interests, larry kudlow came on board in march to the administration and he is a... the new commerce secretary? actually he is the economic adviser. it is a great position, he is a supply side and free trade, he has been a cnbc host. it is good news and that will help. greg, we will watch this space, thanks for coming in so early and giving us your views on this. french president emmanuel macron is on a charm offensive. last week he was in washington.

this week, australia. he's due to arrive in sydney later today for talks with australian prime minister, malcolm turnbull. it is president macron's first visit to australia and he will be pushing for more trade between the two countries. let's go to our asia business hub in singapore where rico hizon is following the story. hello on this holiday in singapore. hgppy hello on this holiday in singapore. happy holidays to you but we are both working, but we both love our jobs! we do. talk about talk about emmanuel macron in australia, how will he go crazy he wants a stronger bilateral trade relationship with australia. -- how will he go crazy 15 partnerships including the establishment of french firms in australia and the development of exchanges with universities and cooperation with the health industry. he will try to drum up more business with french defence

companies a year and a half after australia signed a $37 billion deal to purchase 12 next—generation french submarines. so far it's been a very healthy trade relationship between the two countries. in 2016 and 2017, 2—way trade amounted to nearly $7 billion of goods and services. in merchandise trade, coal was australia's largest export to france, worth over $540 million and coal topped the list of exports to the eu. indeed, a lot of trade between the two countries going forward. thanks a lot, rico, good to see you. a holiday in singapore. actually ours is next monday in the uk, don't want to disturb anyone going to work this morning, you should probably still go if you're watching in the uk. now let's brief you some other business stories. the co—founder and chief executive of whatsapp, jan koum, says he is

leaving the firm. the washington post reports his exit comes after clashing with parent firm facebook over its attempts to use its personal data to weaken encryption. mr koum co—founded whatsapp in 2009 with brian acton, before selling it to facebook five years later for $19 billion. the japanese electronics giant panasonic has agreed to pay more than $280 million to resolve charges brought under a us anti—corruption law. the us says the firm's in—flight entertainment division hired consultants for improper purposes and concealed payments to sales agents in china. panasonic has not commented. an australian regulator has told commonwealth bank it needs to hold an extra $750 million in capital following a scathing report into how the bank's governance allowed money laundering to flourish. it says the bank was complacent with risk and didn't learn from its mistakes. the bank says it will implement all the report's recommendations. thousands of software developers

from all over the world are converging on sanjose, where facebook‘s f8 conference opens today. they have had their access to user data severely curtailed as the company tries to limit the fallout from the ongoing privacy scandal. now they want facebook boss, mark zuckerberg, to reassure them things will soon be back on an even keel. our technology correspondent, rory cellan—jones, reports. ina shared in a shared office based in san francisco, ben is wondering what the next few days will tell him about facebook‘s feature. has software firm helps retailers reach customers through the messaging service but like thousands of other developers heading to the conference, he is worried. i would say anxiety is a very good word to describe how developers are feeling right now

because there's not a lot of information on when pieces of the facebook platform will open backup. mark zuckerberg spent two days being lightly grilled in congressional hearings about the privacy scandal engulfing his country. now he has to face the developers, whose access to facebook data has been cut back in reaction to the crisis. this is meant to be just about the most exciting event in facebook‘s year where it lays out a roadmap to a high—tech future and explains how developers will be able to make money from it. but this year is different, they will be an awful lot of looking backwards and explaining what went wrong. this woman has flown in from london hoping to get clarity for her clients. i think the recent scandal around cambridge analytica has given particularly large corporations but all businesses a reason to pause and look at the investments they make in facebook, many spend tens of millions a year on facebook advertising and they want to know the audiences will still be there

and they want to know what the platform is doing to reassure customers and to reassure... here's one developer who has turned up but would be going in. frederico troy's company cube view has been suspended from facebook, accused of misusing updater, a charge he said he's disproved. everybody is very concerned because what happened to cube you could happen any time and there's this sentiment going round that we're not sure what will happen in the future. last year at this event, mark zuckerberg talked enthusiastically about augmented reality. his audience today will be more interested in how he will sort out facebook‘s real—world problems. that's your business briefing, see you ina that's your business briefing, see you in a moment. after a lengthy court battle,

the scottish government has today introduced a minimum unit price of 50p for alcohol, meaning the cost of some drinks has gone up. 0ur correspondent, catriona renton, reports. it's been a long time coming, but today's scotland is the first country in the world to have a minimum unit price for alcohol. well, it's never too late... at edinburgh royal infirmary, the first minister met people with alcohol—related liver illnesses. minister met people with alcohol-related liver illnesses. all the evidence says when it's not going to solve the problem on its own, without action that targets the affordability of alcohol, then we won't make the progress we need to seek. audrey duncan is recovering out but last year was taken into hospital with the early stages of alcohol—related brain damage. now 37 yea rs alcohol—related brain damage. now 37 years old, she started drinking heavily in her twenties. it started

off at about four cans of beer a day and then i started to progress to crates of beer and then it progressed onto vodka and gin and whiskey, anything i could get my hands on really. it's the strongest alcoholic drinks that are affected, like this strong cider. now, the shop we are in use to sell three litre bottles of this drink for £3 49. but now, underthe litre bottles of this drink for £3 49. but now, under the new pricing, it costs £11 25, so the shocks decided to stop selling it. there area decided to stop selling it. there are a lot of factors to consider. we have a lot of customers who are on a very low income, very tight income and they don't have a lot of money to spend and maybe on a friday or saturday they want a bottle of cheap cider because that's all they can afford and i think it's quite an fairon them. afford and i think it's quite an fair on them. research for the scottish government says the policy could save around 400 lives in its first five years. many countries across the world will be watching to see if it works. catriona renton,

bbc news, edinburgh. coming up at six o'clock on breakfast, dan walker and louise minchin. this is the briefing from bbc news. the latest headlines: the us says iran lied and is still lying about a secret nuclear weapons programme, raising fresh doubts about the future of the 2015 nuclear deal. cardinal george pell is to stand trial in australia over historical allegations of sexual abuse. he's rejected the accusations. a diet rich in oily fish and low in carbs could help delay the menopause, according to new research into thousands of women in the uk. now it is time to look at the stories that are making the headlines in media across the world. we begin with the washington post. and israel's prime minister, benjamin netanyahu, says israel is in possession of tens of thousands of documents which prove that iran lied about the history of its nuclear weapons program when it signed the 2015 nuclear deal. the new york times reports on the twin bombings in kabul that killed at least 25 people, including ninejournalists. it was the deadliest single attack

involving journalists in afghanistan since at least 2002, and one of the most lethal ever worldwide. the guardian leads with the new uk home secretary, sajid javid. he's vowing to "do right" by the people affected by the windrush scandal as he starts his new role. the daily telegraph says (ani) music apps such as spotify might give central bankers just as a good a sense of what's going on in the economy as traditional surveys. the chief economist at the bank of england says apps like spotify are key to gauging the "mood" of consumers. the financial times says a painting sold by the metropolitan museum of art in new york five years ago — because it was deemed unexceptional is in fact a masterpiece by flemish painter, peter paul rubens.

it's now being re—sold by its new owner for up to $5 million. 0uch! so let's begin. with me is 0liver cornock, the editor—in—chief andmiddle east managing editor at oxford business group. it is good to see you. a story you would have a lot to say about. a quiet dramatic televised event on the part of the israeli prime minister, benjamin netanyahu, pulling the curtain across and revealing all of this information about what iran has supposedly been up about what iran has supposedly been up to. first it came down and it was the files. then the second curtain,