this is business briefing. upping the ante: the white house set to confirm new tariffs on hundreds of chinese products — despite warnings from the imf. plus mars raises the bar in china: the boss says the market looks sweet despite trade tensions — especially for a spicy version of snickers. and on the markets the dollar soars and the euro slumps as the ecb signals its own interest rate rises are a long way off. us shares end lower because of ongoing trade tensions and the nasdaq hits a new record. we start in the us where president trump has made up his mind to impose significant

new tariffs on chinese goods — according to reports. he has vowed to strike back against chinese theft of us intellectual property and redress the large trade imbalance between the two sides. the white house is due to publish a revised list later today. mr trump has already warned he would slap import taxes on $50 billion worth of chinese goods a year. an initial list featured around 1300 product categories, including items used in the industrial, transport and medical sectors. there are reports the final list could be shorter but more focused on high—tech. after meetings between us and chinese officials earlier this month, beijing offered to increase its purchases of us goods and commodities by $70 billion. but it has warned that deal would be off if new tariffs are imposed on chinese goods. on friday the international monetary fund

warned of the damage the trade dispute could do to the world economy. lateral discussions can be counter—productive to the global economy and trading system. as i have said before, a so—called trade war, driven by a reciprocal increases in import tariff gives no winner. and we find generally loses on both sides. with me is dr yujie, head of china foresight at lse ideas, which is the foreign policy thinktank at the london school of economics. what do you make of this? i think beijing will take it as a

provocation from donald trump, because given what has just happened between donald trump and kim jong—un, of course china put efforts into getting back to the negotiation table, so they expects concessions on trade tariffs. but that did not happen. what happened was this 50 billion tariff every year. that is potentially quite damaging thing on both sides, because china's response would be most likely to impose ta riffs would be most likely to impose tariffs on our culture products, which could harm the us economy. china will politicise it? they well. i think on both sides it is getting worse. we could see the united states enter recession. the us agricultural sector is largely shaped by what china imports. they forget how many american enterprises

operate and manufacture in china. so we are operate and manufacture in china. so we a re really operate and manufacture in china. so we are really entering a worst—case scenario some we are really entering a worst—case scenario some case. we are really entering a worst—case scenario some case. but the chinese economy is doing quite well at the moment. how much of a difference to think that makes to how chinese people view the situation? even though the chinese economy is doing well, but i think the fact will be quite widely spread, because camino, agriculture products, those from the united states are affecting the food and meat price in china. that would affect the ordinary chinese people's life. we worried them in this case. what kind of global impact will this haveif what kind of global impact will this have if this gives escalating, on the lies and pockets of people at home? in general, the household price will go up, for sure. —— lives. given how much punishment united states is given to china, this will really have a ripple effect across europe. we will all end up in the sinking ship in this

case. what next? what you think will happen next? what is your prediction? my modest prediction would be that the chinese ministry of commerce would somehow offer a list of tariff positions to respond to what the us has dubbed this wording. —— done this morning. to what the us has dubbed this wording. -- done this morning. thank you very a much indeed. so how concerned are us businesses about escalating trade tensions? our asia business team spoke to grant reid — the ceo of us confectionery giant mars. he told sharanjit leyl he's taking the long view. not particularly. we have been in business, we are family owned business. we think in generations. you know, we have been in business for 100 years. the administrations come and go, regulations come and 90, come and go, regulations come and go, and we work our way through it. so we have a good business in china. it is going well. we believe in free trade. we make orders for materials,

but we matthew factor most of our products in china for china. as you know, china on its own is going to be 30% of the world's gdp in the next ten years in terms of growth. it is the critical for us. but i have found a worryjust it is the critical for us. but i have found a worry just a it is the critical for us. but i have found a worryjust a really help. so we talked to both sides. we make our position clear. we make orders even with things going on around. at the end of the day, we have to work on the environment in which we are sustained. it is a digitisation and data, how are you utilising these now and your business? as you well know, china has gone completely mobile. i think in terms of cashless payments, it is something like 50 times ahead of the us. so it really is the epicentre of mobile digital. so we have a digital innovation centre in china. we are partnering with people like alibaba. we are using their data to help us tailor products. wejust

we are using their data to help us tailor products. we just launched a spicy snickers as in the data that they gave us and it is a combination of cover we have a big ride as well as off—line retail business. it is an exciting market with a lot going on. that is rent-free to come at the boss of the confectionery giant. —— grant reid. we've had big news from the us federal reserve and the european central bank this week — the us raising rates and europe signalling it is unwinding its massive stimulus programme. today it's the turn of the bank ofjapan. so — are they following suit? mariko 0i is following the story for us in singapore. any movement from the bank ofjapan this time? nope, no surprises from the bank of japan. this time? nope, no surprises from the bank ofjapan. it has wrapped up its monetary policy meeting and it continues to keep its cost of

borrowing very low. and it remains keeping the stimulus packages in place. unlike the ecb, the european central bank, which surprised the market overnight for us, being very about the cost of borrowing really effective in the us dollar versus the euro overnight. and the bank of japan, even though the governor can be known with his surprise announcements today. there were no surprises at all. in terms of the inflation target, japan has been suffering from deflation. but inflation was lower slightly. but other than that, nothing new. good to see you there in our asia business hub ricoh way. —— mariko 0i. now let's brief you some other business stories. at&t has closed its $85 billion deal to buy time warner — after a judge ruled it was legal under antitrust law earlier this week.

the usjustice department though has 60 days to appeal. it says it is considering its options. the trump administration had argued the merger would harm consumers. with the world cup under way in russia, there could be a bigger than usual impact on financial markets. because of the time zone there are more matches during european and american trading hours than in any previous tournament. during south africa 2010, share trading volumes fell by a third on average during matches — and 55% in markets where the home team was playing. and now what's trending in the business news this morning. 0n the wall street journal, "the ultimate demarche: france wants to 0ust english from the eu." french president emmanuel macron wants to replace english with french as the default language in eu institutions, the way it was before britain joined the bloc in 1973. bloomberg says "apple is close to a deal for an animated movie". and from wired "senators demand answers from amazon on echo's snooping habits." "amazon owes it to the american

people to be clearer about what's happening with this technology," says senator chris coons. and don't forget — let's us know what you are spotting online — use the hashtag #bbcthebriefing. that's it for business briefing this hour. coming up, plenty of news, including a look at what is happening in all the papers. but before ago, let us have a look at the markets. but a good end of the day for the dow, and a lot of asia is following suit. the nikkei is in positive territory. more from me coming in a few minutes. goodbye. the government has been strongly criticised in a report

on its flagship benefit scheme, universal credit. the national audit office says it's poor value for money, and delays mean some claimants are being forced into debt, and have to turn to food banks. the government says significant improvements have been made to the way the benefit is delivered. here's our social affairs correspondent, michael buchanan. angus announced and has been universal credit since august. before then, he worked in a chef and bought his bike. when he lost his job, he built up debts waiting seven weeks for his first benefit payments and says he now lives on £18 a week. the hour before the close, they reduced food to be lost possible price. so it might be £5, as you might geta price. so it might be £5, as you might get a full £1 50 or a pound something like that. so you shop clever and box clever. anderson is not alone. too many people are

struggling with universal credit. last year, 40% of claimants waited 11 weeks for their first payment. 80% waited almost eight months. there was usually an increase in rent arrears and the use of food banks when universal credit was rather than area. despite that, the national audit office says the department or pensions does not accept that the benefit causes hardship. minutes has said that putting a benefits fit for the 21st century and will make improvements to the delivery of universal credit. michael buchanan, bbc news. coming up at six o'clock on breakfast — jon kay and naga munchetty will have all the day's news and business. they'll also have more from russia and day 2 of the world cup. after the hosts' fantastic start, our team in moscow will have a preview of the three games today. stay with us here on bbc news.

this is the briefing from bbc news. the latest headlines: a report from the us department ofjustice says former fbi boss james comey made mistakes in his investigation of hillary clinton before the 2016 election, but was not politically biased. the state of new york is suing the trump foundation and asking for it to be dissolved. president trump himself and three of his children also face legal charges. humanitarian supplies in yemen are at risk as saudi—led forces attack a port held by rebel fighters. now it is time look at the stories that are making the headlines in media across the world. we begin with the moscow times which is celebrating russia's 5—nil win over saudi arabia in the opening match of the world cup. on to the irish times now with a brexit story

and the paper's interviewed british conservative mpjacob rees—mogg who says theresa may should call ireland's bluff over the northern ireland border issue. the south china morning post looks the effects of donald trump on the stock markets with its headline suggesting they're immune to his mishaps and missives. 0nto the new york times now and it says cctv in newark, us, has been opened up to the public with feeds available online — is it big brother trying to be transparent or is itjust a bit creepy? and the daily mail here in the uk among many with pictures of the queen and meghan markle. it asks what was making them laugh on their first official engagement as a twosome. so let's begin. with me is lawrence gosling, editor in chief of what investment.

moscow times from two days. suddenly five goals, three of which were superb goals. it goes to show, doesn't it, what hindsight does. how the media can be so tough. russia are ranked 70 in the world. is it something exciting, but russia has done so well.