this is business briefing. i'm sally bundock. trade tensions move up a gear, as the us says it's investigating foreign car imports. the probe could mean hefty taxes on imported vehicles plus, take—away tensions. restaurants say food delivery apps are eating their profits. we have a special report from new york. and on the markets, in asia the big losers are some of the world's biggest car makers, shares in toyota, nissan, and honda hit hard on the trump trade threats. let us get stuck in. we start in the us, where global trade tensions could be about to move up a gear. the commerce department has confirmed that, at the request of president trump, it will be

investigating imports of foreign cars to see whether they harm national security. in a statement commerce secretary wilbur ross said: "there is evidence suggesting that, for decades, imports from abroad have eroded our domestic auto industry." we go live to our asian business hub and we have rico hizon. toyota shares, honda, nissan, they are falling on this story. this is a big dealfor the asian falling on this story. this is a big deal for the asian car giants. absolutely. there is a lot of concern right now among the asian automakers that this us move could mean tariffs of up to 25% on imported vehicles. and a major escalation in tensions with america's trading partners. sally, the investigation rests on a 1960s legislation which lets the president

to restrict imports if they threaten national security. you have the commerce secretary, wilbur ross, saying that there is evidence for decades that imports from overseas have eroded the domestic auto industry. so he wants this investigation to find out if auto imports have weakened the us economy all impacted national security. global automakers trade group, representing the major japanese global automakers trade group, representing the majorjapanese and korean groups and others said ta riffs korean groups and others said tariffs on imported vehicles would surely hurt the us consumer. ironically, sally, in china, a country the us has long accused protectionism, we are seeing the reverse happened. it is opening up its auto industry. beijing is cutting tariffs on auto imports to 1596 cutting tariffs on auto imports to 15% from 25% for most vehicles, starting from the first ofjuly. so we will have to see how this plays out, going forward, if indeed the ta riffs out, going forward, if indeed the tariffs will be implemented on imported vehicles by the americans.

sally. thank you very much. we are definitely keeping a close eye on that. they will be doing that in china as well. on the agenda in beijing, where german chancellor angela merkel is holding talks with chinese president xi jinping. she'll be pushing china to open up its economy more to foreign investment. but she may also find a natural ally against the increasingly protectionist policies of president trump. the two sides have a huge trading relationship. germany's trade with china jumped to an all time high of $218 billion last year, making china its biggest trading partner and outstripping its trade with the us which was worth $201 billion. that figure was therefore seconds. german carmakers are among the big winners. they are now the biggest foreign players in china with almost 21% of the car market. for luxury cars it's more than two thirds. but germany wants to see china allow more foreign investment. critics say china is allowed to buy up big stakes in german firms,

but not the other way round. this year the boss of chinese carmaker geely became the biggest shareholder in daimler, the owner of mercedes—benz, in a $9 billion deal. they have been talking very much on free trade and more open trade, but very little has happened in practice, up until now. they have opened up some sectors. but there is a big gap between the openness of europe to chinese investment and chinese openness to the european investment. first we have to conclude investment negotiations, then we can probably look further in

terms of deepening our trade relations. with me is florian hense, european economist, berenberg bank. he will help us unpack this further. welcome to business briefing. angela merkel has been to china several times. we have stated how important relationship is between the two countries. what are you expecting from meeting? it is going to be a balancing act for angela merkel. on the one hand, these two countries are very strong partners now. they have a strong relationship. you have set it in the introduction, the trade is bigger between germany and china than it is with the us and germany. especially at this time, with the us president stoking fears of protectionism. angela merkel definitely wants to strengthen relationships with china. on the other hand, she has a kind of loaded relationship with china and xi

jinping. they not only partners, but competitors. as you also said an introduction, property theft is, thatis introduction, property theft is, that is the big issue in the way that is the big issue in the way that german companies are not as able to invest in china as chinese companies are able to invest in germany. that is definitely an issue. a very familiar tale, not just for her but the other world leaders who go to china. that is often their biggest issue. it will be interesting to see if there is any progress on the issue or not. what extent do you think this latest move on the part of trump administration to threaten tariffs on car imports into the us will feature in the discussions between angela merkel is an xi jinping, feature in the discussions between angela merkel is an xijinping, as ricker mentioned, they are opening up ricker mentioned, they are opening up theircar ricker mentioned, they are opening up their car market. they said we will buy $200 million worth of goods and services from the us. donald

trump has been critical of the lack of us cars on the roads in china. for germany the car market is very important to them, the car market in china. the car sector, it is the biggest industry for germany, directly and indirectly. this new probe by president trump is definitely causing germany to move even closer to china. but what you will see is, i mean, so far, the benefit of this has been for german carmakers, have seen shares rising yesterday, at least. with this new probe, obviously there is more pressure for germany or the eu, because germany is not doing trade policy, as such, to open up or give president trump even more, we have seen president trump even more, we have seen the chinese now do its... maybe europe should do the same. they will

be definitely pressure. we had the trade commissioner a couple of days ago saying the offer that they have made to the us so far, she thinks, is not sufficient. so we wonder what they will have two come with as an offer. it is very interesting, i have to say. every twist and turn. florian hense, thank you for your time this morning. we will keep you up—to—date with our angela merkel‘s trip to beijing goes. let's talk take—aways now. if you like to order in, you are probably one of the millions of people around the world who use an app like uber eats, grubhub, or deliveroo. but are they driving local restaurants out of business? joe miller reports from new york. a rare traditional dining in downtown manhattan, tribeca's itchen, attracts 500 regular today. but a third of its customers never enter the front door. instead, they order on delivery apps like uber eats and grubhub. and those orders

to bring in a profit. it is almost like digging your own grave, as a restau ra nt like digging your own grave, as a restaurant owner, and customersjust don't know what an impact this has on restaurant. it would be great if they knew you are really supporting local —— local businesses by ordering direct. the new oppressor business has always been a precarious one, but now owners say they are going out of business fast, not because they are lacking customers, but because more and more of us choose to order via delivery apps will stop some of which take up toa apps will stop some of which take up to a 30% cut. the delivery industry is accelerating is forecast to be worth $220 billion injust a couple of years, but many delivery sites are yet to turn a profit and they say their high charges pay for services that busy restaurant owners can't provide on their own. we are really good at marketing, acquiring customers, retaining them on our platform, and driving them to place orders. we take on the so—called caring cost of running your online

store. if we bring you demands, there is an understanding that we should be paid for that. for now, delivery apps are in the driving seat, but it could be the next generation of restaurant is that eventually in charge. at some point there will be too many apps and the strong are going to survive. then you are starting to hear, way off in the distance, amazon... feedly what that will mean to the restaurant operator is there will be a reduction in prices —— havili. operator is there will be a reduction in prices -- havili. back in tribeca, andy says he cannot wait for them to lower their charges. and if they abandon them he would have two via some of his delivery style. for now, he hopes his family run diner can outrun his customers taste for convenience. jamillah, bbc news, new york. we are asking you if you are eating out less because of these delivery apps. we have heard from many of you. in china top meal delivery apps

are helping small restaurants find customers and vice—versa. life in china is so dependent on the smartphone. lauren in portland, oregon, she says in the us someone who has worked in the restaurant industry for a long time, it only has the industry they don't tip, because it takes the time from other pages slipper differed together and delivery is important for people with disabilities. i have heard from a viewer who is a chef who says it is extremely hard, the restaurant where he works as a delivery app, this is mark fletcher, he says it is so this is mark fletcher, he says it is so hard to plan and to know the number of orders they will be receiving, because they have no idea where the delivery at you were not deceiving one succumbing to the rest is, you have to repairfood for those elsewhere that that you are not just delivering full. now let's brief you some

other business stories. us cable tv giant comcast has confirmed it's preparing a new cash bid for the media assets of 21st century fox, setting up a bidding war with rival disney. fox has already agreed a $52 billion deal to sell its film and tv businesses to disney, and shareholders are due to vote on it this summer. the once—dominant media groups are all battling the rise of streaming services like netflix. uber has pulled the plug on its self—driving car operation in arizona, two months after a woman was killed in an accident involving one of its cars. however, the ride—hailing company said it hopes to resume tests in pennsylvania this summer and was committed to self—driving technology. turkey's central bank has raised interest rates from 13.5% to 16.5% in an emergency meeting, in a bid to stop the slide in the currency and control double digit inflation. the lira has lost lost more than a fifth of its value this year, hitting a record low on wednesday, but rose 2% on the news. that is your business briefing. stay

with us. i will see you in just a moment. now, if you were watching breakfast yesterday you may remember about an appeal which had gathered rather a lot of attention after an elderly couple parked and lost their car somewhere in cheltenham. friends and family of the pair spent four days looking for it with no success but now it's finally been found, thanks to an appeal on bbc local radio. steve knibbs went to meet them. the little silver car sat all alone for five days. it's only human contact, parking wardens, who kindly visited three times. all that hilda

who had parked it remembered was that it was on a road with trees and some nice houses. and she was right. that night i must have dreamt this wonderful place i had left the car in. but it wasn't this place. after hilda had dropped a manual of that hospital on friday, she could not find a parking spot, so came here. the thing is, it is quite a trip back. and the couple don't know child and well at all. i walked back to tell emanuel i could not find the car. i had to keep asking people which way to the hospital and they told it to me in chunks. all the efforts that came in for the delightful immanuel and hilda... the car was found after an appeal on bbc radio gloucestershire which went viral. soon listeners who have seen it started calling in. i heard it on the radio at about eight 5am, i pulled into the car park and about ten past. and there it was. happy. relieved. i can sleep now. it has

all been a very wonderful. everybody has been so kind. so a happy ending for emanuel and hilda, and the fiesta, of course. steve knibbs, bbc news, cheltenham. for that story and more, breakfast will be at 6am, with charlie stayt and steph mcgovern. this is the briefing from bbc news. the latest headlines: north korea is once again threatening to reconsider taking part in a summit with president trump next month. a close aide to kim jong—un said it is entirely up to the us to decide whether to meet at a table or engage in a nuclear showdown.