this is the business briefing. i'm victoria fritz. the $200 billion question — will president trump follow through on his threat of a massive escalation in the trade war with china? decision time looms. plus, anti social media — under fire from congress over foreign political interference, could the likes of twitter and facebook soon be facing tougher regulation? and on the markets... asian shares falling with investor confidence shaken. those fears over the possible escalation in the trade walk between the us and china. we start with the trade war between the world's two biggest economies. it's having far reaching effects around the globe

and it could be about to get a lot worse. president trump is considering a massive escalation in his dispute with china over what he sees as their unfair trade practices. us businesses and individuals have until the end of today to submit their views. the president has threatened to slap import tariffs on another $200 billion worth of chinese goods, hitting everything from selfie sticks to semiconductors. on top of the $50 billion of goods the us taxed earlier this year, that would mean punitive taxes on half of everything china imports to the us. beijing has responded in kind. it's imposed tariffs on $50 billion worth of american imports. and is threatening to hit us goods worth another $60 billion. many in the us agree with the president that trade with china needs shaking up. the us certainly buys far more

from the chinese than it sells to them. the trade deficit last year was $335.4 billion. others are concerned about china copying us technology. but is stoking a trade war the best solution? not according to these us businesspeople. a tariff is a tax, plain and simple, and that gets passed down to the consumer. our ability to trade is critical to our success. unilateral tariffs are not the way to achieve the goal. they really end up hurting workers and farmers and businesses. boom! the tariffs hit and changed everything. it was like a house of cards. every market we were going to maybe reach out to it just all fell so fast. but also they chose products that their consumers would have another alternative because they didn't want to hurt their own people. and ijust went ouch, you're right.

of course they do, they'lljust buy another whiskey. i could simply say i think it's ridiculous. i think we have created a market that's very international. i think a lot of small businesses really rely on exporting to an international market. dr sam fowles is a fellow at the foreign policy centre here in london. good morning. thank you for coming in. do you think the american people are behind these? i think trump supporters are behind this and that is why he is ramping up his rhetoric. people outside that group, the swing voters, it is too early to say and we will see in the midterms. that election in november will be a crucial test for this policy. we ran through some of the numbers. a lot

more coming in to the us from china and the us economy is reliant on imports. from other nations as well, not just imports. from other nations as well, notjust china. imports. from other nations as well, not just china. there imports. from other nations as well, notjust china. there is a trade imbalance. do you think us businesses and consumers realise the significance of those numbers?” think this is certainly does. 0ne significance of those numbers?” think this is certainly does. one of the major impacts if not the major impact has not been on china but on american manufacturers, the very sector this trait wart is supposed to support. the american economy —— this trade war. american supply chains are breaking down. a lot of manufacturers that have survived globalisation are now facing serious problems. one of the consequences of

the trump administration what could say is that the strengthening of the us dollar. that is also hurting the global supply chain. could that provide some relief? only at best in the short—term. what we are dealing with here is essentially to act as. you have the uncertainty caused by the trade war. the $200 billion of ta riffs the trade war. the $200 billion of tariffs coming in tomorrow and we still do not know what he is going to do. the supply changed is also taking a real hit. while the weakening of the dollar may help on the supply chain, you still have to deal with the uncertainty which is argued we have in more of an impact. thank you for coming in and taking

us thank you for coming in and taking us through that. let's stay in the us, where shares of the social media giants have fallen as their top executives faced highly critical hearings in congress. twitter boss jack dorsey and facebook chief operating officer sheryl sandberg were testifying before the senate intelligence committee on their efforts to stop foreign powers trying to influence us elections via social media sites. senior bosses from google were also invited but didn't attend. 0ur north america technology reporter dave lee is in washington for the hearings. he says the companies could soon be facing more regulation. i make this the fourth hearing in less tha n i make this the fourth hearing in less than a year on this and many people say this is a bit of political theatre and chances for soundbites berating some of these tech companies. i do believe there has been some progress. this hearing

focused on where regulations may come into it and this is where any politicians believe is the next step. this companies need to be more transparent about their black boxes, particularly companies like google. regulations may force them to be more open. that is the progress we have seen from the first hearings almost a year ago to where we are today. let's go to our asia business hub where rico hizon is following the story. victoria! hello, how are you. nice to see you. nice to see you as well. a billion us dollars... huge for asian standards. the social media giant says it will look at other

regional candidates because it provides infrastructure and a deep talent pool. the size of those facilities will open in about four yea rs' facilities will open in about four years' time and it will support hundreds ofjobs. years' time and it will support hundreds of jobs. facebook years' time and it will support hundreds ofjobs. facebook also break that this building will be environmentally friendly. in terms of the use of water, energy and land. it will for instant incorporating a cooling technique which can reduce the amount of groundwater used by 20%. apart from the us, facebook ready has a number of data centres. the huge investment indeed. now let's brief you on some other business stories: uk fruit and vegetable growers will be able to recruit non—eu migrants as seasonal workers after brexit under a new pilot scheme.

ministers say the initiative between spring 2019 and december 2020 will help tackle labour shortages during peak production periods. the visas for up to 2,500 workers a year will last for six months. farms have been reporting a slowdown in eu labour since the referendum. the world's largest working offshore wind farm opens later off the coast of cumbria in north west england, covering an area of 55 square miles. the walney facility already had 102 turbines before the completion of a further 87 earlier this year — dubbed the walney extension. the project, owned by danish company 0rsted, will be able to generate enough powerfor 600,000 homes. and now what's trending in the business news this morning. 0n bloomberg, uk would vote against brexit in second referendum, study says.

social research institute natcen says previously pro—brexit voters now fear that leaving the eu will damage the economy. its sample group are now 59% for remain. 0n the wall streetjournal, canada, us negotiators in "intense" talks, says trump — as they try to agree a revamp of the north american free trade agreement. the president warns: "if it doesn't work out, it'll be fine for our county but it won't be ok for canada." and in business insider, having a positive mental outlook is an important trait if you want to get rich. after studying hundreds of people both rich and poor, an expert says self—made millionaires all have this one personality trait in common. and don't forget let is know what you are spotting online — use the hashtag bbc—the briefing looking at the markets at the

moment... spike by turkey and argentina currencies and deepen. little bit of a spin and abet market and concern about the broadening prices around asia. this is how the dow ended the day in the us. plenty more coming up. before we go, we will have a quick look at the nikkei. lots more coming up in news briefing. britain and france have agreed on the principles of a deal that would end a dispute over scallop fishing in the english channel. there were confrontations between boats from both countries last week when french fishermen

accused british boats of fishing unfairly. claire marshall reports. heading out from brixham, a very different boat from the huge dredgers that left from this same harbour last week and clashed with french fishermen. we were taken to a secret location with divers that gather scallops by hand. they showed us their technique. there's no large machinery involved. they select the right ones and leave the rest. there is another way to get scallops that leaves the sea bed intact, and the growing success of businesses like this shows that more and more people are caring about how their scallops are fished. if you don't leave enough breeding stock to breed, then you can't keep fishing. and this so—called scallop war is about dredging, industrial boats that catch huge amounts. the british were fishing legally, but french fishermen say they'll leave them with no catch in the bay de seine this year. this blue boat is a 200 ton british trawler crashing into a french boat. british fishermen say these smaller

vessels deliberately got in their way. it took four hours of negotiations, but a deal of sorts was done. i'm very pleased that we've negotiated a deal that satisfies the honour of both sides, that our fishermen will be fishing where they want to fish, the larger vessels and the smaller vessels. and from the first of october, that bay de seine fishery is going to be open. this is brixham harbour tonight. locally caught scallops are being sorted. there's scepticism about the plan. the level of compensation wasn't decided. that's down to a summit in paris on friday. all british scallop boats have been asked to voluntarily stay away from the contested area until a formal deal is signed. so at the moment, it's up to the skippers whether or not to comply. claire marshall, bbc news, brixham. this is the briefing from bbc news. the latest headlines:

president trump has hit back at accusations of "amorality" and reckless decision—making. he says the attack, by an unnamed senior aide, is "gutless" and "phony". south korea has confirmed president moonjae—in will meet north korean leader, kimjong—un, for a summit in pyongyang in two weeks time. and russia's in the spotlight over the novichok nerve agent attack as britain takes its case to the un security council. now it's time to look at the stories that are making the headlines in the media across the world. we start with the story making the front page of most of today's uk papers — including the front of the times. —— the times. prime minister theresa may vows revenge on russia, after britain identifies key suspects in the poisoning of russian spy sergei skirpal and his daughter yulia. so, one of the big stories in the financial times now

and the emerging market sell—off sparked by turkey and argentina's currency crisis. and over to the japan times and the latest on their website shows this picture of a street hit by a powerful earthquake that struck southern hokkaido early thursday morning. the front page of the guardian in the uk now and the head of nhs england criticising betting firms that sponsor premier league football clubs — saying they should do more to help britain's gamblers. the new york times runs the astonishing tale of thousands of enormous seagulls. they've landed in rome and are invading residents' homes and have even eaten the vatican's peace doves! shocking scenes.