this is the business briefing. i'm sally bundock. only six months to go. as the brexit date draws nearer, will embattled uk prime minister theresa may get her so—called chequers plan through? is the trade war between the us and china about to get a lot worse? president trump's new tariffs on chinese products could be announced as soon as today. and it's a stormy start to the week for financial markets in asia as typhoon mangkhut rips through the region. japan is closed today for a public holiday. as we have just mentioned, just six months ago, the clock is ticking, until we are scheduled to leave the

european union. britain has yet to agree a brexit deal with the bloc. this week prime minister theresa may will attend an eu summit in salzburg which will allow the eu's leaders to properly discuss her proposals to leave the eu. so where are we in the negotiations? well, around 80% of a deal between the two sides has been agreed, according to eu chief brexit negotiator, michel barnier. theresa may's proposals would see britain signing up to a common rulebook — effectively keeping british goods in the single market but without accepting regulations for services, the european court ofjustice, or free movement of people. the border between northern ireland and the irish republic is a key sticking point in the negotiations. the eu insists a backstop, or safety net, is needed to protect the single market and would keep northern ireland within the eu customs union. however, this is something the uk opposes. with much still to agree, there are concerns a no—deal brexit could be a possibility. dr rebecca harding is

an independent economist, ceo of coriolis technologies and co—author of the weaponization of trade and she joins me now. wellcome. thank you. it is getting extremely tight now. the timeline as it were, but we knew this may happen. what is your take on where we are? sol happen. what is your take on where we are? so i think what is becoming very apparent is that this is complicated and that's how trivial thing to say but over the last 18 months perhaps we have all been a little bit optimistic, thinking this was something that could be solved quickly. there are so many different things to do with trade, borders, the way in which we operate our daily lives, and it was never going to be simple. so where we are at the moment is right in the middle of that complexity. as we mentioned the prime minister is going to salzburg,

there is a very important discussion there is a very important discussion there taking place this week. the european union members arejust there taking place this week. the european union members are just as keen as the uk to try to get this solved effectively in order for a smooth process in march next year. but many of us are all bracing ourselves for the worst—case scenario. indeed, and i think that is one of the things that is most concerning, uncertainty, because it is so difficult to businesses to plan while they do not know what is happening and businesses on both sides, a man, it isn't easy in europe either by the uk is less important to europe and vice—versa. in trade terms. but in companies themselves, they are massively optimistic, you look at surveys and they are still confident of that growth, but they are beginning to show uncertainty, beginning to get worried about currency fluctuation, because every single word that a politician says at the moment moves the currency. and we are getting

mixed messages because michel barnier says it is possible in 6—8 weeks we could nail down the final bits that we have not agreed on, and the prime minister is pushing ahead with the so—called checkers agreement and many within the party of trying to pull the whole thing apart. i think at the moment it is this, it is politics trumping economics —— chequers. at the moment nobody really knows from an economic point of view what is going to happen because there are no precedents. but the politics of the moment is creating this sort of fault if you like, no one is sure who is going to win out and we have to hope michel barnier does believe that there is a deal there, it is right, and that the chequers deal can be held onto. what is your take on how the uk economy will be impacted in the meantime?” on how the uk economy will be impacted in the meantime? i think in the short term it will go through a tough time, it is difficult to see it in any other way, although if you look at economic forecast, they are

predicting the same levels of growth next year as they are this year so in terms of broad rush stuff, it is actually looking fairly stable —— brush. there will be saved —— stable sectors and small businesses who trade finance cycles last 90 days is that if we only have 180 days to go and brexit, the traditional trade finance cycle is 90 days it is a three monthly time now so things are beginning to get more urgent. rebecca, thank you so much for coming in and sharing your expertise. so much more on this on a news app but also we are focusing on this issue in detail but meantime, more business stories. amazon is investigating claims that its employees accepted bribes in exchange for leaking confidential sales data. independent sellers were also allowed to delete negative reviews and restore banned accounts for payments of between $80 and $2,000, according to allegations in the wall streetjournal. thejournal said the practice was particularly pronounced in china. amazon said it had zero tolerance for abuse of its systems

and that it was conducting a through investigation. the majority of the uk's largest companies have adopted policies —— elon musk‘s space transportation company spacex said last week, it has signed the world's first private passenger to fly around the moon aboard its bfr launch vehicle. mr musk has said he will make the identity of the passenger known later today. the moonshot is a preparation for later flights to mars. the majority of the uk's largest companies have adopted policies on boardroom diversity, but their reporting to stakeholders needs to improve. research conducted for the financial reporting council by the university of exeter business school shows that only 15% of ftse100 companies fully complied with the uk corporate governance code's provision on diversity reporting. the trade war between the world's two biggest economies will likely

get worse this week. president trump is reportedly announcing new tariffs on about $200 billion of chinese imports as early as today and if that happens, beijing may decline to participate in proposed trade talks with the us. president trump likes to boast that he's winning the trade war but, according to american chamber of commerce in china, these tariffs are hurting us companies more than chinese companies there. how would this impact the global economy, we are seeing a how would this impact the global economy, we are seeing a negative response to these reports coming from the us today for financial markets. a survey last week showed that merely 6% of americans firms in china would consider moving back to the us despite tax incentives back home. 0ur asia business correspondent karishma vaswani has been speaking to amcham chairman william zarit.

us companies do not think that ta riffs us companies do not think that tariffs is the best way to address the lopsided economic relationship. however, we ask our companies what do you want the us government to do for you? the number 1p was to level the playing field —— number one a nswer the playing field —— number one answer and the number to answer was promoted economic relationship with china based on fairness and reciprocal treatment and that is what the us administration is doing. now, is that the best way? maybe not. that i have a sense we are talking with the chinese, they are serious, they don't want a trade war, any more than most of us. so i

think that we may be going in the right direction. after dutch dollar for dollar, it gets to a point where china doesn't have much in the way of american goods to retaliate, so what are some of the things that china could do to make life difficult for a american companies and are you already seen that? holding up certifications. extra inspections at factories. looking very carefully at your tax records for the last five years. holding something in customs until it rots and then you can send it back to america. frankly, the chinese authorities understand that american investment here has been very helpful for developing the economy. they still want foreign investment, even though china is a rich country now. you look at the current state of relations between the us and china. how did you see this trade

warending? china. how did you see this trade war ending? we don't have much trust between the two countries. and i think that is legitimate on both sides, frankly. the way we are going about it now doesn't seem to be the best way of building trust. so having said that, how are we going to come out of this? i would really like to see serious time limited results oriented negotiation in which chinese will address market opening, reciprocal treatment. which chinese will address market opening, reciprocaltreatment. let's quickly show you the markets now. the typhoon that is ripping through

the region, macau, many gaming and casino stocks are down significantly because of the damage that it is likely to cause. up next — newsbriefing. a new way of measuring poverty in the uk is being proposed, to include unavoidable costs like child care that some people face. alison holt has more. jenny has multiple sclerosis. she is also a single mum with four children. 0n benefits, she struggles to pay the extra child care and heating bills that result from her condition. today's report says

existing poverty measures ignore the unavoidable cost someone likejenny faces. i get something is fortnightly, something ‘s weekly, some things every four weekly and trying tojuggle some things every four weekly and trying to juggle bout with bills that you pay monthly, children's things that cost weekly, i got myself into such a muddle because of all the medications i take for the pain relief and for the muscle spasms. the poverty measure proposed by the social matrix commission sets a person's income and easily accessible assets against inescapable accessible assets against inesca pa ble costs accessible assets against inescapable costs like child care, different payments and living with a disability. that leaves the money they have to live on. under this measure, 14.2 million people are in poverty in the uk, the same as before, but nearly half live in families with a disabled person and there are fewer pensioners below the poverty line. your savings that you

can draw down on, your liquid savings, should be credited to you. your debt should be taken into account. your costs of being disabled should do influence whether or not you have spare money to spend on food and housing. and likewise, child care. these are some of the changes we have made. the government says this measure provides insight into the complexity of the issue but its work is already lifting people out of poverty. alison holt, bbc news. this is the briefing from bbc news. the latest headlines: with just over six months until brexit, britain's prime minister had underlined her promise to lead britain out of europe. in an exclusive bbc interview, theresa may says she is irritated by continued speculation about her future, ahead of this week's key eu summit in salzburg.

typhoon mangkhutv is continuing to batter china's most populous province of guangdong, after wreaking havoc in the philippines and hong kong. at least two and a half million people have been moved out of the typhoon's path. authorities have cancelled hundreds of flights and closed all coastal resorts. a leading democrat senator is calling for a delay in considering, president trump's nominee for the us supreme court. brett kavanaugh denies allegations of sexual misconduct, from his days as a high school student. dianne feinstein says the appintment should be put on hold until after an investigation. now it's time to look at the stories that are making the headlines in the media across the world. we start with the metro, and michael gove urging his party to get together and back teresa may, saying mps could always undo the chequers deal once the uk has left the eu. 0n the front page of

the philippine daily inquirer, this picture of a family picking up the pieces after the powerful typhoon destoyed their home in northern luzon. in the gulf news, president trump is set to announce more tariffs on china as early as today. and the ft, jpmorgan is setting up a programme to fund mba studies by its executives and run courses for uk school leavers aspiring to be bankers. and finally, the daily express.