this is business live from bbc news, with alice baxter and david eades. a $200 billion olive branch. china offers to slash its massive trade gap with the us. the question is, how? live from london, that's our top story on friday 18th may. china and the us are set to wrap up their trade talks later today — but will beijing offer any further concessions to its biggest economic partner? also in the programme.... a billion dollar boost from the royal wedding! we'll look at the businesses set to cash in on harry and meghan‘s big day. newly inflamed trade war fears and disappointing earnings sent us stocks lower on thursday, running counter to gains made

in european equities. and it's been a busy week for the "big four" accountancy firms and the world's largest bookmakers. we'll give you a rundown of the winners and the losers with our business editor simonjack. and with the royal wedding set to provide a boost to the uk economy, today we want to know how much you're spending on the festivities. are you buying a commemorative mug or perhaps you're going all out with a street party? let us know... just use the hashtag #bbcbizlive. hello and welcome to business live. we start in washington, where president trump has been meeting with china's vice premier liu he to try and reboot what he sees as a hugely unfair trading relationship between the two sides. the white house has,

of course, threatened punitive tariffs on chinese goods, with beijing promising to retaliate raising fears of a destructive trade war between the world's two biggest economies. the big issue for the white house is the us trade deficit with china — the vast amount the us buys from china, compared to the other way around. that deficit was $375 billion last year. president trump wants it slashed by $200 billion within the next couple of years. according to reports, china is now prepared to agree to that. robin brant is in beijing. the idea china will start buying $200 billion more worth of goods from the us — that's a huge sum — questions arising around how easily, realistically, could that be achieved? well, it's a staggering number. to

try to achieve that kind of a cut in the surplus within just a 2k month period, many people think it is, frankly, laughable. look at the main exports from china to the us, top of the list is things like smartphones, ipads, furniture, component parts for hi—tech goods. if you added those numbers on an annual basis they do not come near the $200 million total. that aspiration for the president is what he has rested his domestic political credibility on. if he were to achieve any kind of agreement he would be happy with that. a cut in the surplus would be something he could point to. but others around him have bigger concerns about what they see as china's unfair subsidy of key industries in this country such as electronic vehicles, aviation, robotics. that is what they are more

worried about because they think it gives china a big advantage in the future over the us. and the other news on this — on friday, china dropped its anti—dumping probe into imports of the grain, sorghum from the us, hugely relieving some of the tension around this issue. and potentailly a move that could save the us around $1 billion a year. yes, sorghum, soya beans, they are hugein yes, sorghum, soya beans, they are huge in terms of the volume exported from the us to china. china targeted sorghum in particular in terms of proposals for its retaliatory tariffs. it comes from states in the us that are crucial for the president's domestic political support, 0klahoma, texas, colorado. it goes on to things like pig feed here. the chinese said the domestic market was substantially damaged, just a month later they are changing their minds and saying if there were

new tariffs it would affect farmers here, their costs of living. it is clear this is linked to the bigger picture in terms of trade, but after just a month of those putting forward these threats on tariffs, particularly on sorghum, a billion—dollar industry for the americans, they are taking that off the table and there is a sign of easing intention in terms of the trade dispute. may thanks, robin brant in shanghai. back to you, david. professor david collins is professor of international economic law at city university of london. good to have you with this again, dated. just listening to rob and trying to find ways to get close to $200 billion in terms of reducing the surplus, is there a way? is it remotely practicable? it seems ridiculous to me, it is interesting in your piece it was mentioned in terms of china purchasing more us goods. i don't see how you can create demand if it is not a bad, particularly at that level, back

quickly and two years. bowling might get a great contract, i know it will not be 200 billion but there could be marquee signings, almost? that would be great, but only if the demand was there and it was needed and that would happen naturally. but setting and arbitrate target at that level back quickly, i do not see how it would work. it would seem to me that they would deal with a deficit, which i and many have said is a misdirection, it is not really the proper strategy, i would have thought it would be done by some sort of voluntary export restraint. that had recently been discussed. the problem with china volunteering to reduce its exports to the us to address the trade imbalance is it is probably not illegal under way world trade organisation rules. the exports are there because people wa nt to exports are there because people want to buy them? americans want to

buy chinese goods, there is nothing wrong with that. it means americans are getting the products they want. why president trump is focusing on this, i cannot believe he does not understand the economics, it seems once again to be political theatre. maybe that is the point, too many people it is vaguely understandable, a+ minus balance. whether it is appropriate to 2ist—century or not, it has political value? yes, and it isa it has political value? yes, and it is a strategy and an overall trade negotiation which should be aimed at the more important things such as the more important things such as the intellectual property rules not being enforced in china, the fact china has been subsidising its hi—tech sector, these are the things that should be addressed. there are trade remedies that could do that but also you need to look at investment law and the control of performance requirements. a long way to go, that is sure. thank you, david. good to see you. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news.

paypal has bought swedish mobile payments company izettle for $2.2 billion. izettle, which sells a card—reader aimed at small businesses, had been planning to float on the stockholm stock exchange. the move boosts paypal‘s in—store presence at a time when competition in the online payments sector is increasing. the first fund aimed at encouraging gender diversity among uk companies has been launched by legal and general investment management. the fund will favour shares in firms that have the best record on gender diversity, including the number of women at board and executive level. singapore airlines says it will merge with its struggling budget carrier silk air. singapore airlines is facing tough competition in the high end market from other full—service carriers. let's see what the markets have been up let's see what the markets have been up to. asian stocks were steady on friday amid caution over developments in us—china trade negotiations, while the dollar perched near a five—month peak

after the benchmark us. treasury yield hit its highest in seven years. in tokyo, stocks closed higher friday as a cheaper yen gave a boost to exporters but traders said they would be keeping a close eye on geopolitics in the coming days. msci‘s broadest index of asia—pacific shares outside japan was little changed. the index was headed for a 1% loss this week. hong kong's hang seng rose slightly and shanghai climbed just 0.3% as some investors bet beijing and washington will reach a deal in the latest round of trade talks. meanwhile, wall street ended slightly lower on thursday. meanwhile, here in europe, markets have opened quite mixed. and kim gittleson has the details about what's ahead on wall street today. on friday we'll get one more data point when it comes to the impact that president donald trump's proposed tariffs are having on corporate america.

that's because tractor—maker deering company is expected to report its first—quarter earnings before us markets open here. now, most analysts are expecting it will be quite a profitable first quarter of deering company. it's been helped by a booming global economy. but earlier this year, the company's chief financial officer warned that president donald trump's proposed steel tariffs could negatively impact the company's bottom line. investors will be looking for any sense of the magnitude of this impact, and they'll also be looking to see of the company's consumers, american farmers, have slowed their purchases of farm equipment in the wake of proposed import tariffs in china on american soy beans and sorghum. joining us is richard hunter, head of markets at interactive investor. always good to see you. let's start on how the markets are, it is almost how they are coping with the uncertainty over how each session of

talks is going and we are caught in the midst of one lot now, with very different coming out? yes, and you have obviously covered the us/ china, we also have the korean situation rumbling on the background. in terms of the us economy, and we saw this with the retail sales numbers the other day, it is spiralling on all cylinders. nothing but good news coming out of the states, the markets reflect that accordingly. if there is one concern, it is the question is this as good as it gets? in the normal economic cycle, things will peter. —— will peter off. there will be another recession, it might be 18 or 24 another recession, it might be 18 or 2a months away but at some point the market will have to factor that in. we will find the bad news out of the good news! a bad news story of late, sterling has been plunging, it has had a very positive effect on the more internationally focused ftse,

which has been on an incredibly strong run. will we see the uk markets come back into favour with international investors, it is the bottom of the pile for a while? the obvious reason for that, or the rhyse martin situation and best of the garden, is uncertainty over bradford. as you say, the ftse 100 bradford. as you say, the ftse100 isa bradford. as you say, the ftse100 is a global index, 70% of earnings are coming from overseas. —— uncertainty over brexit. there are some signs that perhaps sentiment is starting to turn more positive towards the ftse100. wasn't starting to turn more positive towards the ftse 100. wasn't there a recent survey that the uk was rung below cash as an asset class? yes, a couple of months ago, it was 23rd. damning stuff. it is, indeed. thank

you, richard. we will get a wedding perspective from you later, i suspect. still to come... there's been a landmark ruling in the us which could see sports betting legalised across the entire country. later in the programme, our business editor simon jack will be giving us a round—up of the week's biggest stories. you're with business live from bbc news. the royal wedding isjust a day away, and there are predictions the uk economy will receive a very welcome boost. the royal wedding isjust a day away, and there are predictions according to consultants brand finance, the wedding could bring well over $1 billion to the uk. sallyjoins us from outside windsor castle with more. wonderful to see, the sun is shining. talk is through this figure of $1 billion? as you say, that is the prediction from one

organisation. it has to be said that businesses here, the retailers, the companies in windsor, are absolutely milking this event for everything they can get. all the shops are bringing with harry and meghan merchandise. —— all the shops are brimming with. researchers... retailers expected to profit, and the leisure industry and to risen. the sun is shining, as it has been for the past few days and will do tomorrow, in itself that helps brand britain, this event is being broadcast all over the world and they are seeing windsor in all its glory, with the sun out. it is thought this will boost consumer confidence and it will boost the uk economy, which has been really flagging since the beginning of this year. one organisation, for example ey item club, say the long—term

benefits will be minimal but there isa benefits will be minimal but there is a welcome short—term boost, much needed for the uk economy. 1—person‘s royal merchandise is another person's commemorative toot, it is not necessarily a lasting, supported boosted the economy and there are people who question whether so much should be spent by the taxpayer on issues security? absolutely. if we look at what it cost for his brother's wedding, prince william and catherine, the security bill alone was £6.35 million. it is estimated this wedding will cost something like £32 million. the royal family wedding will cost something like £32 million. the royalfamily will pick up million. the royalfamily will pick up the bill for various things like the church service, music, flowers, decorations, reception, that kind of thing. in total, of course, it is ha rd to thing. in total, of course, it is hard to gauge. it is never really disclose publicly what these kinds

of events cost, but many hope the boost to the uk economy will mean... you're watching business live. our top story. reports suggest that china is willing to reduce its trade surplus with the us by $200 billion over the next two years. beijing has already said it is ending punitive measures against imports of a key us cereal crop sorghum. a quick look at how markets are faring. it's all a bit uncertain partly because of the us china talks. asian markets were a bit more positive as the chinese $200 billion figure came to light. still pretty quiet. and it's been a busy week for the "big four" accountancy firms and the world's largest bookmakers. also the price of oil has been steadily climbing. let's take a look at some of the big stories this week.

simonjackjoins us. shall we start with the big four ‘s. there are 3000 registered accountancy firms but the reality is that four of them make up 90% of the audits of the ftse100 companies. they have these relationships for a long time. nobody wants to start from scratch. if you are auditing glaxosmithkline, if you want a firm with a bit of global threats, you wa nt with a bit of global threats, you want someone who knows the business. these relationships develop over many years. some people think they are too cosy. the finance director, auditors and firm get much too close together. they are paying to be audited. if they say we don't like

the look of this, the way your accounting for this, they are also bidding for the different types of consulting work. the whole thing is a bit of conflict of interest. what brought this to the fore is the colla pse brought this to the fore is the collapse of carillion, where kpmg signed off on a set of accounts in march of last year. within six months it was clear the company was insolvent and eventually it was liquidated. its destruction was total and rapid. very soon after one of the big four had signed off. people are looking at this and what the development is this week is we've learned the bosses of the big four realise that change is coming. they are beginning to put in contingency plans. it's going to be difficult for the uk to do this on its own. these are global companies but the uk ring fenced retail banks, so but the uk ring fenced retail banks, so there could be this idea of ring fencing the audit function, so you have a separate bit from the

consulting arms so that you have a clearer, less conflicting positions. remove that conflict of interest. they've accepted it now, so we can assume it will happen at some point. weather they are going to split them up weather they are going to split them up into smaller companies, ring fence certain functions from others, we don't know yet but i think they realise the time to change is coming. the us decision on opening up coming. the us decision on opening up the betting landscape is a huge decision. funnily enough i was at a sports conference as that happened. you could not believe the sense of panic and flurry. it's interesting because uk betting firms are pretty global and successful around the world. people like paddy power, ladbrokes have been making small bets of their own that this is going to happen. 0f bets of their own that this is going

to happen. of course the supreme court ruling that this band which has been in place and sports betting since 1992 is unconstitutional is going to be very interesting. i don't expect there to be a gold rush immediately. what they are doing is allowing states to decide for themselves. not every state wants to be nevada or newjersey. not every state wa nts be nevada or newjersey. not every state wants a las vegas. i think it will be softly softly but it's estimated that americans spend $150 billion in sports betting but it's mainly underground. they say bring it out, regulate it, tax it which is the crucial bit. and there will be a real bunfight for the party. you'll have the sports owners themselves, the club owners wanting a piece of that, the states wanting a bit of it, you'll have the companies themselves. is going to be really interesting to see how that pans out. what many would argue is the

biggest international story this week as the price of oil hitting 2014 levels. it is floating around the $80 a barrel mark. it's interesting because $80 was meant to be the new peak for oil. essentially you get a strong global economy, you then had the iran situation having to withdraw from the market over fears of us sanctions, you've got problems in venezuela. when you had supplied constrictions and stronger bond you can see a spike. the idea of this being the peak is it was thought the us shale producers, or 0pec, you turn the tap on and effectively have a cat. we are right up effectively have a cat. we are right up where most oil bosses i speak to think is the actual new peak the global oil. it will be interesting to see weather it pushes through that. some analysts are talking about $100. we thought that was a thing of the past. it matters

because the price of oil goes into just about everything we buy, it also goes into the delivery of everything we buy and has a pervasive inflationary impact. at the time when central banks around the time when central banks around the world are looking at the pace they should be raising interest rates and additional inflationary pressure can make them rethink that. that affects everything, the price of money, the value of assets. still the world's most important commodity. thank you. in a moment we'll take a look through the business pages, but first here's a quick reminder of how to get in touch with us. stay up—to—date with all the day's business news as it happens on the bbc‘s business live page. there's analysis from our team of editors from around the globe. get involved and the bbc‘s business live web page. 0n twitter, and find us on

facebook. business live, and tv and online. what you need to know, when you need to know. what other business stories has the media been taking an interest in? richard hunter is joining us again to discuss. let's not hide it, the royal wedding is from every conceivable angle. not least from the perspective of tv. that's right. just extend the conversation pass the royal wedding, we've also got the fa cup final tomorrow. your priorities are coming out! there are those who are hoping that this will be one of those occasions where the uk comes together, potentially in front of the tv set, potentially all day long, and if the weather holds up outside of course. it should be an economic boost as well as socially

tomorrow's. is quite interesting that there was a time when you could well imagine people sitting there and running through the day on the tv. these days, holding on to an audience with our mobile world and what have you is very difficult. i imagine barbara slater head of bbc sport has some anxiety about keeping an audience. it sounds as though the strategy will be to flip—flop between the two events as the afternoon unfolds. 0bviously between the two events as the afternoon unfolds. obviously the cup forfinal afternoon unfolds. obviously the cup for final doesn't afternoon unfolds. obviously the cup forfinal doesn't kick off afternoon unfolds. obviously the cup for final doesn't kick off until five 15p. i think the wedding is at 12pm. there will be a flat couple of hours weather will be some overlap. also bringing in all the big names to front both of those events. yes, absolutely. they are both going to be watched, the cup final has its own audience anyway and as we've

seenin own audience anyway and as we've seen in the past royal weddings draw anything up to half of the population. at the beginning of the programme we asked people to tweet about how much they were planning to spend on the royal wedding. we've had some responses, one viewer saying what am i spending on the royal wedding? as a taxpayer, i'm spending money on the wedding! all of that feeds into this article from forbes about the cost of the wedding. the taxpayer is picking up the bill for security. yes, and it's reportedly going to be rather more than the previous royal wedding. 0bviously that was in central london whereas this time we are talking about locking down an entire town in the form of windsor which will be more expensive. i don't think when you analyse it and divided by the number of people in the country it's a great deal of money but it's getting some coverage. the royal family picking up the tab for a lot

of it. football clubs benefit from policing costs as well, to a certain extent. thanks for watching. we've had a chilly start to the day but many of us woke up to some glorious sunshine. that sunshine is going to continue for most of us into the evening. a bit more cloud further north and west. with that, some outbreaks of rain moving through northern ireland and into the north west of scotland. you can see the cloud on the satellite imagery. further south and east across england and wales you'll continue with the sunshine. during the afternoon not a great deal of change. continuing the back loud and some rain clearing away. a bit warmer than yesterday, temperatures perhaps up by a degree, looking at about 17—19 away from those north sea coasts where it's a bit chilly. a bit chilly at the further north—west you go. into the weekend,

this area of high pressure staying firmly in charge of our weather. when you see highs like that you're looking dry weather, lots of sunshine. for the royal wedding it will be a chilly start but there's lots of sunshine. temperatures by the afternoon getting up to 21—22. weather or not you're at windsor or enjoying a street party, elsewhere across the uk on saturday, lots of fine weather. if you're not enjoying the celebrations, still get out and enjoy the beautiful weather. temperatures getting up to 17—22. warmer still compared to today. of course it's the scottish cup and the fa cup final. both of those also looking very good with those temperatures getting up to 19 or 20 degrees in glasgow and london. and into sunday there will be a small blip. we've got this weather front moving in from the north—west. that will introduce more cloud, outbreaks of rain across northern ireland and

scotla nd of rain across northern ireland and scotland during sunday. some of that could be heavy. it will become a bit patchy into the afternoon. for england and wales, sunday is looking like dry and sunny day. some fair with the club developing. those temperatures up into the low 20s. another warm day, a slightly fresher cooler feel the further north and west you go. into next week, the fine weather continues. staying mostly dry. some showers around but also some warm sunshine. the fine weather continues not only through the weekend but into next week as well. goodbye. hello, it's friday, it's nine o'clock. i'm chloe tilley, welcome to the programme. final preparations as prince harry and meghan markle get ready to say "i do". today meghan‘s mum doria ragland will for the first time, be introduced to the queen — but we still don't know who will walk meghan down the aisle. as windsor prepares, we'll be live in the town across the morning with the latest.

excited royal watchers are already in place. i think she is beautiful and i am sure she is wonderful. he deserves to be happy, he has had a hard time. if he is happy, i am happy for him. as the world watches, we'll ask what impact the wedding will have. also ahead — do you work from home? apparently millions more of us would like the chance to do it. we'll ask if it can make us more effective employees.