this is business briefing. i'm sally bundock. raising tensions over trade: mexico hits back at the us, and imposes nearly $3 billion worth of tariffs on american products. and the fashion designer kate spade has died at the age of 55, we look back on her career. and if all financial markets today as we hit midweek. the main markets in asia are slightly higher. we warned you on monday this week would be all about the trade war. certainly it is turning out that way. mexico has officially hit back at the united states, imposing tariffs on a range of american goods in response to the trump administration's levies on steel and aluminium. it puts further strain on relations

between the two countries as they struggle to rewrite the north american free trade agreement. is the latest move. let's get more on this from our asia business hub, where rico hizon has been following the story. nice to see you. we were expecting a lot to happen this week. and this is the latest. a move on the part of mexico and in your part of the world, eight, will be reacting to this right now. -- asia. not a whole lot of reaction currently from the asian stock markets, this goes to show that mexico won't be intimidated by the united states. the central american economy has imposed tariffs of around $3 billion us worth of american pork, steel,

cheese, and other goods in retaliation to the trump administration's steel and aluminium levies. there is a lot of talk that donald trump wants a different trade format with mexico and canada. economic advisor larry kudlow has revised the possibility that president trump will seek to replace nafta with bilateral deals with canada and mexico. something both countries say they do not want. following this news of tit—for—tat ta riffs following this news of tit—for—tat tariffs between mexico and the us, which takes place immediately, the mexican peso has tumbled to its wea kest level since mexican peso has tumbled to its weakest level since february 2017, making it one of the worst performers among major currencies. it is now unclear which country will blink first, leaving the future of the trade deal and millions ofjobs across the continent that are linked to it so uncertain that many companies are withholding investment

they might want to take advantage of with this. ranks a lot, rico. we will see you soon. that is the latest on that story which is dominating business this week as we head towards the g7 meeting at the end of the week as well. let us focus on another story that has been dominating for financial markets. should europe be scared of italy's new populist agenda? the country's new anti—establishment government has won its first confidence vote in the italian senate, outlining its policies. a vote later today in the chamber of deputies, where the five star movement and the league have a majority, could turn these policies into a reality. so what's mr conte's agenda? he has pledged to "reduce public debt by increasing the wealth of our economy, not through austerity". the coalition wants to help italy's poorest, increasing public spending on welfare and infrastructure, while introducing a flat tax of 15% on individuals and 20% on companies. but the turbulent political climate has taken its toll.

a key business confidence index, which spans manufacturing, services and retail, fell in may to the lowest level sincejuly 2016. meanwhile, the government's long—term borrowing costs almost doubled in may, to a rate seven times higher than germany's. with me is david madden, market analyst, cmc markets. good to see you, david. i know that traders across europe have been very on edge about italy. given what has happened yesterday, we had the prime minister's maiden speech in parliament, when he said more about his policies, the fact they did not lose a vote of confidence, they can now plough on. what are you thinking? i think italy is at a crossroads. the people have spoken. they were a populist party in power. they were a populist party in power. they now have a coalition. this is very much going to upset brussels.

these two antiestablishment parties wa nt to these two antiestablishment parties want to break the mould. instead of going down the route of austerity and just servicing the debt, which many italians feel has been the purpose of the italian economy for the past ten years, they want to ta ke the past ten years, they want to take a page out of donald trump ‘s macbook, slash corporation tax,/ personal tax, and increase personal spending —— book. this is a potentially bold move, given that italy has a tremendous amount of debt, unemployment is high, confidence is low, the economy is stagnating, this could be the move that either reinvigorates the economy or puts it further backwards. what is your money on? what will happen? the plans are part of this new government are budget busting and italy has very little wiggle room. it really does. if you look at president trump mac america, and since his election, the

financial markets, the economy, has reacted quite well to the tax changes. all of a sudden putting more money in the pockets of italians in the form of higher public spending, universal income, and so on, and lower corporation tax, and encouraging individuals in what they spend and encouraging businesses to set up, i think this has the potential for a winner. their politicians in both parties of this coalition that don't have any political experience. this could be a trial ground for populist movement and governments around europe. help patient will financial markets be with italy? because of the government of servicing its huge debt is going up by the day —— the cost. the cost of borrowing for the italian government will remain stable, provided they don't try to leave the eurozone automatic massive relief on debt. if they stick to

domestic politics such as tax reform and in relation to reinvigorating the economy, i think that will actually provide the italian economy sta ble actually provide the italian economy stable ground and the financial market will give it the benefit of the doubt. it is really only be possibility of leaving the euro which will rock investor confidence. we will keep a close eye. david, thank you for your time this morning. as we've been hearing, the fashion designer kate spade has been found dead at home. she was 55. kate spade turned her name into a global brand, and her rise to success reads like a classic american tale of a self—made businesswoman. nada tawfiq looks back at her career. people have been expressing shock over the news on social media, but also paying tribute to the designer, sharing their stories of their first kate spade bag, and sharing funny quotes from her. for such iconic design. it was the

eta accessory to own. kate spade is known not just eta accessory to own. kate spade is known notjust as a talented designer, she created bright and cheerful handbags that were very functionalfor cheerful handbags that were very functional for young women, but also because of her entrepreneurial skills and her business mind. she grew a company out of her apartment in new york into this global lifestyle brand and really paved the way for future female designers to do the same. and so a loss of tributes are being paid to her in both those respects. it is interesting because she was speaking to glamour magazine in the past and she wanted to be known not only as a good businesswoman, but a great friend, and a heck of a lot of fun. that was nada tawfiq, looking back on the career of the businesswoman kate spade, who has died at the age of 55. the boss of kasai airways has

sparked a furore over his comments in sydney that he is company was led bya man in sydney that he is company was led by a man because it is a very challenging position. his remark has served to underscore just how few women there are running airlines at the moment. aaron heslehurst caught up the moment. aaron heslehurst caught up with one of them, the head of a wider air, and asked her why she thought it was so few women at her level in the industry. that is one thing that really stood out for me when i got to this gallery, the sheer underrepresentation of women. we have had several discussions with people white women are not represented. what do they say? the long working hours, they want to get married, they don't want to continue ina line married, they don't want to continue in a line of business, the industry needs to have a more deliberate attempt to attract women to the aviation industry. without women you are missing out on a big opportunity

there. do you think you can help that now that you are in the industry? i think so. that now that you are in the industry? ithink so. iwould like to focus on more women in the industry, from pilots to engineers to management. that is a big focus. rob white is very good in terms of gender in parliament. 60% are women —— wind. that is to be reflected. the chief executive of raw one dayer. we show you the markets really briefly. the winners at the moment are the tech stocks. yesterday one of the big winners on wall street was amazon. the nasdaq closing at a record high, a fresh record high for a second straight day. tech stocks are very a second straight day. tech stocks are very much in favour. the hang seng is up slightly. these are how the commodities are doing at the moment. the price of oil edging higher once again. that is your business briefing. a computer failure that locked

almost two million tsb customers out of their online banking is being investigated by the financial regulator. the financial conduct authority has also criticised the bank's chief executive, paul pester, accusing him of giving too optimistic a view of services after a major systems overhaul left customers struggling to carry out transactions or access their accounts. here's our personal finance correspondent, simon gompertz. it is more than six weeks since tsb customers found they could not get into their accounts. now the service is working better, but it is still u nsta ble is working better, but it is still unstable and 40% of the time people can't get help on the phone. the

pressure is piling up on the chief executive, who took the ill—fated decision in able to move millions of customers accounts to a new system and is directly criticise now by the financial regulator. in a letter to the treasury select committee, it was said that he gave mps and optimistic view of services which was too optimistic. to customers the bank was not open and transparent. the vast majority could not use their online accounts, only half good. not all of them have received refunds from tsb as quickly as they are supposed to. today, tsb‘s directors will face intense questioning on the failures. the bank says it is focused on restoring operations to the level customers expect and making sure they are not left out of pocket. simon gompertz, bbc news. more on that story at six o'clock.

coming up at 6:00 on breakfast, charlie stayt and louise minchin will have all the day's top stories, business and sport, including news of more upset on the railways. that's after three fresh strikes by northern rail employees were announced. rmt union members will walk out for 2h hours onjune 19, 21 and 23. it's all to do with the ongoing row over plans to change the role this is the briefing from bbc news. the latest headlines: fresh volcanic eruptions in guatemala. officials say nearly 200 people are still missing. primary fever — american voters choose more candidates ahead of november's midterm elections. what kind of welcome can england fans expect in russia? willa frosty relationship overshadow the world cup? now, it is time look at the stories that are making the headlines in media across the world. we begin with the new statesmen who report labour are to table an amendment to the eu

withdrawal bill, calling for the government to negotiate "full access to the internal market of the european union" after brexit. 0n the front of the times italy's new populist government has broken ranks with its allies in western europe by calling for an end to sanctions on russia. giuseppe conte, the prime minister, used his debut speech to parliament to call for a fresh approach to relations with president putin. the guardian carries a warning from the world bank who say the escalation of the trade tensions between the us and its major trading partners could have consequences for global trade equivalent to the 2008 financial crisis. the telegraph leads with criticisms being levelled at oxford and cambridge university for their lack of diversity. universities minister sam gyimah has attacked 0xbridge for its "staggering" failure to attract more black students. and finally, the atlantic says the miss america pageant is having a #metoo—era makeover.

there will no longer be a bikini or swimsuit competition and contestants will no longer be judged on their outward appearance. is that possible? so, let's begin. with me is geraint anderson who's an author and former stock broker and columnist known as city boy. good to see you. let's start with the story about brexit and the opposition party in the uk, the labour party, jeremy corbyn saying we are going for a much softer approach. it seems like they want to have their cake and eat it, so they wa nt to have their cake and eat it, so they want to not lose labour voters who supported