this is the business briefing. i'm david eades. theresa may calls for faster progress in brexit talks as big business piles on the pressure. plus, trouble is rumbling for president trump as harley—davidson plans to move jobs out of the us. has his trade war backfired? and on the markets, wall street closed slightly higher asian shares recovering a little from nine—month lows seen this week. but those global trade tensions are still very much in focus. also to come: we start in brussels at the european union summit, where uk prime minister theresa may has said she wants to see faster progress in the brexit negotiations. with just nine months to go until britain leaves the eu, she's under growing pressure

to lay out what she sees as their future relationship. but her government remains deeply divided on that. here are some of the flashpoints. the financial side remains very controversial. the uk government puts the divorce bill for britain leaving the eu at around $51 billion. but its own spending watchdog warned this week it could be 10 billion higher, and warned any financial benefits of leaving — the so called ‘brexit dividend' — would be some years away. then there's the eu's customs union. the government says it's leaving so it can strike its own trade deals. it's one of its so—called ‘red lines'. but how to do it without going back to a hard border between the uk and ireland? that could undermine the delicate northern ireland peace deal. brexit supporters want britain to regain control of its borders. but that's seemingly incompatible

with the european union single market, which allows the free movement of goods, services, money and people within the eu. so big internationalfirms in the uk want to know — what sort of arrangement will replace it? the likes of airbus, bmw, siemens and nissan have all been warning of catastrophe for their businesses if trade barriers go up. well, after a meeting that went over by six hours, theresa may said she's been fighting for a fair deal for the uk's exit from the eu. on brexit i have been stressing that we wa nt on brexit i have been stressing that we want a deal that will work for the uk and for our european partners. and if we work together we can support each other‘s ‘s prosperity and security. we will publish a white paper shortly and i wa nt to publish a white paper shortly and i want to see the negotiations exhilarating and intensifying thereafter. simon french, chief economist at panmure gordon,

joins me now. thank you forjoining us. that quote from theresa may there is interesting enough. we want answers quickly. everyone looks to hope for the answer, along with business things do need to go quickly now with only nine months left. the problem is that the two sides in this negotiation do not see eye to eye on some key redlines. it was quite interesting from the eu commission president yesterday saying that some of those redlines need to be revisited politically that will be difficult for theresa may and will need to be done in a key meeting this week. we are treading water yet again had a key eu council because of this. be during council was expected to be the point at which both the transition deal and the new settle m e nt transition deal and the new settlement were set out, giving business and all citizens are enough clarity, enough of a leading time until brexit date in 2019 to make

preparations. now the earliest that seems set to hop on —— and is in october, potentially reaching into 2019. it is a short window to make a transitional arrangement. you mention in your introduction of number of companies that are concerned. beanie to execute contingency plans now and cannot wait. that is interesting. nothing can be said that does not have political connotations now and that point was made by a number of brexit supporters saying that they would be the case. the danger is that when you get a near avalanche of huge company thing we can work like this that we are reaching the end. the discussions i have had with business, you find that they understand you cannot have certainty in what is and unprecedented set of circumstances. what they do look for is consistency and clarity. that has

been missing from a unified position from the uk government throughout the process. and the eu commission do not seem overly willing to compromise on their legal order. you could argue that that was expected but it is certainly unhelpful. they don't need to move until they know what it is they have two move will negotiate against. is there any suggestion, do you think in terms of the meeting next week, that there is any suggestion the government will come up with a clear and united line? there is an interesting proposal on the table that the uk tries to align itself with the single market on goods but does not on services. the question is whether thatis on services. the question is whether that is tolerable for a number of brexit supporters in the uk cabinet to dig even if theresa may walks tightrope, it is far from clear to dig even if theresa may walks tightrope, it is farfrom clear she goes back with a proposal to the eu that they will say yes, given they wa nted that they will say yes, given they wanted third country relationship with any country, be that the uk or

otherwise, it is not prepared to sign up to the four freedoms. exactly, freedom of movement means freedom of movement for people. let's go the us now. president donald trump has travelled to the midwestern state of wisconsin, home of the iconic american brand harley—davidson. he is piling pressure on the motorycle manufacturer not to move some of its production abroad following the eu's introduction of steep import taxes as a result of the trade battle he started. our north america correspondent chris buckler reports from wisconsin. harley—davidson has spent decades building an all—american image that's sold all over the world. but selling the distinctive roar of these engines has become an expensive, rather than an easy ride. the company already has assembly plants in other countries. but wisconsin is seen as the heart of harley. and at this, its sprawling site in the state it calls home, workers are talking

about president trump's public fight with the firm, the eu's tariffs and the potential of theirjobs heading overseas. i love my company, i like my president, i'm happy. it's all good. it's a tit—for—tat. trump thinks he can irritate people and then the other people overreact. harley insists it needs to move some production abroad to avoid steep new tariffs. president trump, who started that trade battle with europe, was in wisconsin to break ground at a huge new electronics plant. but he had a message specifically for harley. harley—davidson, please build those beautiful motorcycles in the usa, please, ok? don't get cute with us. don't get cute. and he claimed it was looking likely the eu would back down. and they are going to come back and they are going to say, "let's talk". frankly, don't tell them i said it, but they already have. many here got fired up

about donald trump's campaign for the presidency. but in this swing state he needs to keep those supporters on board, and uncertainty about harley could hurt him. trump as far as i'm concerned, i don't consider him america. he is our leader right now. but harley—davidson will always be america. there is no doubt harley—davidson is a classic american brand with more than a century of history. but it's the future success of the company which is important not just to employees but also president trump. america first was welcomed as a positive message but the road ahead has dangers, if the president continues to push his protectionist policies. chris buckler, bbc news, milwaukee. now let's brief you on some other business stories. tata steel and thyssenkrupp are close to agreeing terms on a merger that will create europe's second—biggest steelmaker

after arcelor mittal. sources in the city of london have told the bbc that the deal, which has been under negotiation for more than a year, could be concluded in the next few days. amazon has said it is buying online pharmacy pillpack for an undisclosed sum, confirming speculation it's expanding into healthcare. the news has sent shares of pharmacy chains plunging on fears of competition from the online retail giant. cvs health and walgreens boots alliance were down around 10%. british defence giant bae systems has won a share of a $25 billion warship contract with the australian navy, beating italian and spanish rivals. the nine frigates will be based on the type 26 design bae is building for the royal navy, but will be built in australia. cement giant lafargeholcim says its french subsidiary is under formal investigation in france over claims it funded

a terrorist group in syria. last year, lafarge admitted paying armed groups in the country in order to keep a factory operating in northern syria as violence mounted after 2011. and now what's trending in the business news this morning. cnbc assesses the fallout from amazon's move into healthcare hitting the shares of retailers and pharmacy chains. it wiped out $17.5 billion from eight companies in one day. on bloomberg — big tech worried as california law signals us privacy push. california's governor signs sweeping data protection legislation along the lines of the eu's gdpr. it says more states could follow. and from wired — boeing's proposed hypersonic plane is really, really fast. boeing has unveiled a concorde for the 21st century that could cross the atlantic in two hours and the pacific in three. and don't forget — let us know

what you are spotting online. use the hashtag #bbcthebriefing. up next, newsbriefing. one of the first fire fighters to enter grenfell tower has been describing the moment he realised the blaze was spreading outside the building. charles batterbee said at one point when he looked outside he said it "rained fire" as burning debris fell from the building. tom symonds reports from the grenfell tower inquiry. his report contains images of the fire which some may find distressing. firefighters charles batterbee and daniel brown, loaded with gear are headed up grenfell tower, the fire isjust

a glow in the kitchen window of flat 16. the enquiry has watched them smashing their way in on a thermal camera. in reality, it was black with smoke. then briefly opening the kitchen door to blast water at the fire, and put it out. but then charles batterbee realised what was happening outside. itjust rained fire. it is jumping multiple floors. this is notjust one or two windows and frames which have failed and come down, this is lots and it was getting worse. low on air for their breathing gear, they had to retreat. i looked up at the side of the tower and... i will never get over that shock. it was like a war zone, he said. residents had been told to stay put to wait for rescue, but after two hours the advice changed. callers were now being advised to get out any way they could.

but we didn't stop, we kept on going with our efforts. he worked all night. by daybreak, the scale of the grenfell tower disaster became apparent. tom symonds, bbc news. coming up at 6:00 on breakfast, we'll have all the day's news, business and sport. they'll also have the latest on the deployment of soldiers in greater manchester to tackle a moorland blaze that has been burning for four days across seven miles. crisis averted. after meeting through the night and under pressure from italy, eu leaders finally reach an agreement on coping with the migration crisis. a gunman has killed five people at a local newspaper in annapolis, maryland. police say jarrod ramos was carrying out a targeted attack. us media say he had a long—running feud with the paper. thailand's prime minister has met search and rescue workers at the cave complex in the north of the country where 12 boys have

been missing for six days. now it's time to look at the stories that are making the headlines in the media across the world. we begin with the new york times, and the shooting at a local newspaper office in maryland. five people were killed and others wounded at what's been called a ‘targeted attack‘ on the capital gazette newspaper. a white male in his late 30s living in maryland has been arrested and is being questioned. the telegraph leads with a call from the head of the uk national health service that children's mental health services must be expanded to deal with the fallout from social media. the ft reports on online retail giant amazon, which has declared its intention to move into us healthcare business by acquiring an online pharmacy group that delivers prescription drugs to people's homes. usa today looks at the world cup

and how england deliberately lost in a 1—0 defeat to belgium because such a result would provide a far easier potential path to world cup glory. and finally japan have also come under fire for their world cup playing tactics. the sun newspaper claims, despite losing 1—0 at the time, japan knew they would progress at senegal‘s expense despite having the same number of points, same goal difference and goals scored. with me is annamarie phelps, who's vice—chair of the british olympic association.