this is the business briefing. i'm maryam moshiri. trump's brexit bombshell. plans to keep close ties with the eu would ‘probably kill‘ a trade deal with the us — the president tells the sun newspaper. plus — could the next lewis hamilton be...a robot? self—driving cars take to the track at the goodwood festival of speed. and on the markets, most asian stock markets following the us higher despite ongoing trade tensions— buoyed by predictions of strong earnings from us companies we start with president trump — who'll be talking trade with prime minister theresa may at a working lunch at her country residence chequers later today. on thursday night

she entertained him and business leaders from both sides of the atlantic at a lavish dinner at blenheim palace where she made the case for a free trade deal between the us and uk. she called it an ‘unprecedented opportunity‘ to do more transatlantic business as britain prepares to leave the european union. it‘s already a hugely important business relationship for the uk. last year uk exports to the us totalled $148 billion — they included goods like cars and medicines — but the vast majority of exports were services. the us arguably has more to gain. although a far bigger economy, it only exported $93 billion worth of goods and services to the uk last year. both figures though are dwarfed by britain‘s business relationship with europe. uk exports to the eu were $362 billion last year — almost half its total exports. protecting that flow of trade has

been a key priority for the uk government in its controversial plans for a so—called ‘soft brexit‘ — retaining close links to the eu. but in an interview with the sun newspaper today, president trump has warned a soft brexit will mean no trade deal with the us, and possiby worse. that was a clip of the interview. emanuel adam is executive director at the uk—us trade body — british american business. this article is incredible. to come the morning before the brexit... that president trump and theresa may talking chequers about trade deals. what sort of impact will it have on their conversation? it was an incredible week. what the president tried to say in this interview here is that if the uk stays aligned with

the eu on customs including regulatory alignment then it will be harderfor regulatory alignment then it will be harder for the regulatory alignment then it will be harderfor the us to do regulatory alignment then it will be harder for the us to do a comprehensive trade deal as they would normally do with other partners. i think this is what he was trying to say. the way he tried to say it, however, is not helpful in the current circumstances that theresa may faces. no. i do not think it was helpful but at the same time it is the us president and he has says things like this before. what really happened here in this case, his advisers told him that it was too difficult to tell her that. but that is not what we have heard before. when president obama was discussing brexit he said that if there were a brexit you can be at there were a brexit you can be at the back of the queue in terms of trade deals. president trump is saying is that if there is a hard brexit you will be front of the queue. it is a different stance, isn‘t it? queue. it is a different stance, isn't it? the differences between ha rd isn't it? the differences between hard brexit and soft brexit. if the uk were to cut its ties with the eu

on goods and services including regulatory alignment it could go to the us and do a deal on those two issues. if they keep an alignment on one of those, it will be hard. you are the executive director of the us uk trade body however it is clear from the figures i was showing viewers that trade with europe is far bigger than trade with the us. should prime minister made take heed of what president trump are saying? how will this change her tactic?” don‘t know if it will change her tactic that i think she will make a calculation as will her team. ceo is important and she has understood that for the sake of the uk economy and its people, workers and citizens we need to stay somewhat aligned at. i think she will still try to push foran i think she will still try to push for an opportunity to do something with the us because we have also seen it is the largest legal country partner for the seen it is the largest legal country partnerfor the uk seen it is the largest legal country partner for the uk when seen it is the largest legal country partnerfor the uk when it seen it is the largest legal country partner for the uk when it comes to the economy. or to talk to you. thank you for talking with us. let‘s go to goodwood in the south of england

now where motorsport fans are gathering for the annual festival of speed. the major car brands and industrial giants like germany‘s siemens are all investing heavily in autonomous vehicle technology. but could a machine ever be a match for a racing driver on the track? our transport correspondent victoria fritz reports. host to the great and the good and ata host to the great and the good and at a racetrack, of course, plenty of these come as standard. until now. meet robo cart. a truly driverless ca i’s meet robo cart. a truly driverless cars built from the ground up and driven by artificial intelligence centres and gps gives the car 360 degrees vision, a vision, perhaps, of the future. it is definitely the way the world will go. leisure driving and driving day today for going to work can be two very different things. not to be outdone, these boys from cranfield university. they have a 1965 ford

mustang with a difference. each box contains a computer doing the mass to get the car around the track, or it least, that is what they hope. so the cars are ready. it is the first day of the festival and the very first car on the track is this autonomous vehicle here. we will give it a go. lets go. and with a fleet of supercar prototypes behind us, it seems i‘m not the only one a little nervous. a wobbly start... and stately progress. some throttle for a fact. and the occasional helping hand from our engineer. it will not be a podium finish but a record is set as the first autonomous car makes it over the line. the data from the drive will go back to base for some fine tuning. but what does a company, better known for washing machines, wa nt better known for washing machines, want with self driving technology? we are very interested in autonomy within factories. for robotics or it

could be vehicles moving around careers or airport aprons. autonomy applies to a lot of industrial applications. today's student project could be tomorrow‘s most valuable commodity as industry powers towards an autonomous future. let‘s stay with the subject of trade, because china‘s trade surplus with the us unexpectedly hit a new record high last month. it‘s a figure that is likely to add more fuel to the trade row between the two countries. let‘s go to our asia business hub where rico hizon is following the story. this will add fuel to the fire, won‘t it? and give president trump, if he is watching in regent ‘s park today, watching bbc world news, it will give him something to think about. absolutely. and is a numbers will not help the already strained trade relationship between the united states and china. as you

mentioned, president trump will be disappointed that the trade deficit is not narrowing but widening between the two biggest economies. but if you have a look at the point of view of china, the data has never been so good. exports rising by 11.396 been so good. exports rising by 11.3% injune been so good. exports rising by 11.3% in june while been so good. exports rising by 11.3% injune while imports expanding as well. the mainland‘s trade performance has been more than many had expected for the first half of the year. supported by sustained demand at home and overseas. this is indeed encouraging news for policymakers did it the export outlook has been clouded by this heated trade dispute with america with both countries imposing retaliatory duties on each other‘s goods last week. now let‘s brief you on some other business stories. the us government is making another attempt to block at&t‘s $80 billion deal to buy time warner. it‘s to appeal against a landmark court ruling last month that cleared the deal, and threw out claims

by the justice department that it would harm competition. britain‘s finance industry has attacked the government‘s proposals for future relations with the eu, calling them a ‘real blow‘ for britain‘s biggest export sector. the plan falls short of the current "passporting" rights that enable uk based financial firms to trade freely with the eu. that is all for business rethink is how i. —— that‘s it for the business briefing this hour but before we go, here are the markets. markets are taking their lead from wall street, shaking off any worries they have about growing trade tensions between the us and china, the us and britain and the us and the us and britain and the us and the eu. a number of major airports

in the uk are failing to meet the needs of disabled passengers, according to a report by the civil aviation authority. manchester airport has been given the lowest possible ‘poor‘ rating. our disability correspondent, nikki fox, has the story. whether its specialist assistance at airports, costly broken wheelchairs or inaccessible bathrooms on planes, for many disabled passengers, flying can bea for many disabled passengers, flying can be a difficult experience from beginning to end. these problems we re beginning to end. these problems were highlighted earlier this year when the bbc‘s security correspondence frank gardner tweeted about being left on a plane because heathrow airport had lost his wheelchair. today‘s report highlights the progress many airports have made including heathrow, which is this year been classified as good following last you‘s poor rating. report reveals

that 16 uk airports have been relieved —— rated very good, up from six last year. along with heathrow, nine other airports have scored good. three major airports have been told they must improve the services they provide disabled passengers. and for the second year in a row, manchester has been ranked poor. the only airport to receive the rating. following our report on bbc brea kfast following our report on bbc breakfast earlier this year we had a huge response on social media with many highlighting long waits to disembark and a lack of understanding from special assistant staff on how best to look after those with physical and hidden disabilities. we have manchester airport is poor this year, principally because waiting times have been too long. we have undertakings under place with manchester and they haven‘t performance plan to improve. what has been great about this report is that it has acted as a catalyst for improvement. so he‘s removed from poor last year to good this year with a on management time. and

another removed up to very good this year. the department of transport say they welcome the progress made by airports but will continue to work with the aviation industry to make flying easier for disabled passengers. this is the briefing from bbc news. the latest headlines: on his first presidential visit to britain, donald trump has warned prime minister may that her brexit plans make a trade deal with america less likely. injapan, more than 200 people are killed in the worst flooding in nearly a0 years. now it‘s time to look at the stories that are making the headlines in the media across the world. we begin with the sun, which has an exclusive interview with the us president donald trump where he accused uk prime minister theresa may of ruining brexit, and warned her that she may have killed off the chances for a us trade deal. the independent looks at the nato summit and its member states, who have rebuffed claims by president trump that he has forced them to raise defence spending. the ft says uk chancellor

of the exchequer philip hammond has defended the government‘s watered down brexit plan for financial services, as the city calls it a "real blow to business". the picture on front of the japan times shows the devastation wrought by the floods throughout japan. torrential rain has severed transportation links with the death toll reaching 200. and finally, their image is one of being sweet and cuddly however the way shoppers have behaved trying to buy a build—a—bear is anything but. violent scenes were sparked near stores across the country after supplies ran out following a promotion to buy any bear, which can cost up to £52, for the price of their child‘s age. let us begin.

with me is richard griffiths who‘s corporate communications director at the global pr firm ketchum. good morning. you must be glad you are not doing pr for theresa may on friday the 13th. it would be challenging. the thing i would say about this meeting this week if it is blenheim palace, not buckingham palace, and i think the visit by donald trump is a real art in terms of positioning. this is not a full state visit, but if you looked at the tv pictures we saw overnight, holding hands with theresa may, all the pageantry at blenheim palace yesterday, the home, or the birthplace of winston churchill, it had the feel of a state visit, but it wasn‘t. had the feel of a state visit, but it wasn't. how did the sun get this interview? i think we can speculate about how the sun got this interview. i think it is a prescription for tom newton dunn, the political editor of the sun. we