this is business live from bbc news with ben thompson and sally bundock. a bump in the road. german carmakers are in washington to talk trade as president trump threatens more tariffs on foreign cars. live from london, that's our top story on tuesday 4th december. but germany's chancellor merkel says it's brussels, not berlin that determines eu trade policy. but bmw, daimler and volkswagen need to find a way out of the looming trade spat. also in the programme eurozone finance ministers reach a deal to protect the euro against future crises, as they again warn italy needs to change its budget. markets are looking like this...

and oil is back on the up.... as qatar bows out of opec. we'll look at what's moving the markets and why. and we've all heard the saying take care of the pennies and the pounds will look after themselves but it can really be made to work in the digital age? we'll speak to the founder of an app trying to make that a reality. today we want to know there is a report out today in the newspapers that one school in london has had to take the step of capping what parents give to teachers as gifts, as luxury handbags and dinners out at the michigan starred restau ra nt dinners out at the michigan starred restaurant or on the menu. we ask, is that right, should teachers get gifts at all, what is the balance? let us know — just use the hashtag bbcbizlive hello and welcome to business live. when it comes to transatlantic trade, cars are one of the eu's most valuable exports to the united states. so any new tariffs from the trump administration could be a major blow. all attention has lately been

on the trade war with china, but washington is still considering tariffs on european cars. so when top executives from three of germany's biggest carmakers meet senior trump officials at the white house later — there's a lot at stake. well, european manufacturers sold almost 5a billion dollars‘ worth of cars in the us last year. sales in the us accounted for more than 14% of bmw and daimler‘s revenues last year, rather less for volkswagen, which is, by some measures, the world's biggest carmaker. now president trump is threatening to raise the current 2.5% tariff on eu—built cars to 25%. that compares with a 10% tariff for us—made cars entering the eu. president trump says the tariffs are about protecting american workers. the three german firms employ more than 41,000 across the us and that could rise if bmw goes ahead with reported plans for a second us factory. but on the eve of the talks,

germany's chancellor angela merkel reminded the three manufacturers that brussels — not berlin — is in charge of negotiating trade policy. translation: these trade issues are unanimously decided i'd the european commission for all member states. at the same time, the german car—makers are big employers in the united states. so there's clearly reason to talk to the us administration about issues such as investment and the future of the german car—makers as employers in america. angela merkel there. with us is david collins a trade lawyer and, professor of international economic law at city, university of london. the german chancellor reminding

eve ryo ne the german chancellor reminding everyone that the eu is in charge but groundwork is dry to be laid for conciliatory conversations?m but groundwork is dry to be laid for conciliatory conversations? it looks like car—makers are dry to tell the trump administration had damaging ta riffs trump administration had damaging tariffs with the. what we need to do is cut tariffs and not raise them. looking at the statistics that was shared with us, you can see in many ways it's when when how it works with the number of jobs ways it's when when how it works with the number ofjobs they currently provide in the united states. so what do we think the white house might do? it makes no sense, the only thing i can imagine was i think it was the white house that invited the germans, i suspect the american and a is probably going to encourage the germans to open more plans in the us and the idea behind that this move your production facility from europe to the us to avoid the tariffs. but

seems to be, i would guess, the motivation and the follow on from that rugby this would lead to jobs in the us, that's probably the strategy, whether that makes any senseis strategy, whether that makes any sense is questionable. it makes dirk thinking and bmw, they say they have plans for another factory in the us but given the other headwinds, these companies are facing, bmw said yesterday the year ahead, you know, has got some headwinds, currency fluctuations, trade discussions going on with the us but also, the new restrictions and regulations on the way these cars are put together as well. of course, the trade agreement is 15 set of the broader landscape, we seen in north america in number of car plants shutting down, even as nafta concluded. it's not necessarily about tariffs or trade barriers, we have different consumer patterns, large vehicles

are not popular any more, driverless car future and forward in a decade, fewer restrictions and these kind of things. what we are seeing is probably the trump administration doing its best to save, i don't want to see a dying industry, but an industry in trouble in any way he can. the news from general motors last week shows the pressures on some of the big players in the us. david, thank you. such a busy programme today. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news samsung has extended it's sponsorship of the olympics games by eight years. the new deal takes the agreement through the los angeles games in 2028. being a top tier sponsor of one of the world's most watched sports events will give the korean brand huge exposure as it fights for smartphone market share with apple and huawei. it's thought the deal is worth about $50m a year. america's altria, the maker of marlboro cigarettes, is in talks with a canadian cannabis producer over a potential investment in the firm. canada's cronos group confirmed the discussions but said it had not yet reached an agreement. it follows reports that altria

was in talks to acquire cronos as it tries to move away from its reliance on traditional smokers. elon musk‘s firm space x has launched 64 small satellites into orbit — a record numberfor the us. the falcon 9 took off from california on what has been described as the largest ever ride—sharing mission on a us rocket. the satellites belonged to sa different companies, government agencies and universities. that still has the power to amaze me. the mind boggles, absolutely, i think you long mosque is living the dream. what do you do for a living? we are in the wrong job. absolutely. the other big trade story is of course the truce reached between us president donald trump and china's xi jinping

over the weekend. shares in asia have been falling amid confusion over exactly what commitments china will mean particularly when it comes to reducing import tariffs on us made cars. robin brant is in shanghai... bring us some clarity if you can what is china saying? china is not saying anything, which is significant. resident trump tweeting claims one of the things they agreed in bonus errors was that china would reduce and maybe remove import ta riffs reduce and maybe remove import tariffs on autos coming into the country from the us. china has not confirmed, it has not denied it, it has not commented on the plane yesterday, that's one area we have significant confusion emanating from

the white house, involving senior government figures. 0n the one hand we had larry could look, the trump administration senior economic adviser, saying when it comes to car ta riffs adviser, saying when it comes to car tariffs and then being reduced removed, he said that is my understanding, i believe that commitment was made the table but another senior player, peter navarro, refused to say it had come up. he said it had, but that is as far as he would go, no confirmation it would happen. confusion over 90 days or 60 day period of negotiation. all of this leaving one big auto firm forward, a major player here in china and abroad, to say it's encouraged by discussions and listen to these words, it says it's looking forward to learning more, that's in a statement to the bbc. robin, thank you for casting more clarity on that, it's about as misty as that skyline behind you. robin brant, our correspondent there, he did and i am what from those potential trade talks. let's

look at the numbers. mixed picture across asia. investors still questioning why that the us and china would be able to reach a deal between that so—called truce period. let me show you what's happening in europe. that's the current state of play. 0il europe. that's the current state of play. oil on board, brent above 62, up play. oil on board, brent above 62, 0 play. oil on board, brent above 62, up 5% the previous session. risks of ain up 5% the previous session. risks of a in supply boosting prices, remember at the news yesterday, we got that qatar will pull out of the oil cartel 0pec, casting more uncertainty over of what is already an uncertain market. first let's head to michelle fleury on wall street. german car-makers heading to the white house on tuesday, senior

executives from volkswagen, daimler and bmw expected to meet with the us commerce secretary will barossa and aus commerce secretary will barossa and a us trade representative. three companies are big employers in america. us treasury secretary and white house economic advisers at scheduled to speak at a conference in washington, no doubt there are will be peppered with questions about trade after the us agreed to postpone additional american tariffs on chinese imports for 90 days to allow talks to continue. 0n the earnings front discount retailer dollar general is expected to report a rise in sales for the last three months, investors will look out for any updates from the company on the impact on its business of tariffs. that's michelle in the us for us. let's speak to alex stewart, fixed

income fund manager. good morning. all eyes on europe, trying to bring some stability back to the eurocom of water you looking at? this is all about trying to deal with what happens if they cannot get a daily with italy's budget, making sure there is enough resilience in the financial system, talking about measures to perhaps be able to restructure debt for countries that get into trouble, i guess it's about showing everything up and having that backstop. it's not easy. these kind of negotiations take forever, again, eurozone finance ministers trying to come up with measures that

will suit everyone within the eurozone and italy is a prime example of an economy that's a very different place to germany. that is at the heart of the problems in the eurozone. trying to get one size fits all. but this idea, trying to the richer countries in the north to help out when other countries get into trouble, which is obviously an issueif into trouble, which is obviously an issue if they want to spend more to keep people happy. but word on oil, we have seen on prices starting to climb again, the latest 0pec meeting this week, expecting a cut in production that could push prices up and we know how much of an impact that has globally, it filters through to so many things that we buy in consumer. absolutely, we've had quite a big drop in oil price recently, it's going to be very interesting to see, they are expected to cut, it's obviously in the interest of these countries to keep the oil price up, but yes, it has a big impact on inflation

globally. thank you for now. you'll be back later, we are going to get into the side of politically sensitive issue of presence for teachers at christmas. yes, do you buy presents for teachers, if you have kids at school? how much do you spend, various schools around the world now imposing limits on what you spend. your kids school you chipping. iam you spend. your kids school you chipping. i am in charge this year. what is the teacher getting? i cannot say. she might be watching. just to say, we are pulling the money together as parents, people are putting in e2, money together as parents, people are putting in £2, £5 each parent and we put it all together and i don't know, i am not saying what we will get. flowers and a bottle of wine, i haven't quite aside, send in your suggestions. but also still to come if you take care of the pennies, will the pounds takeover of

themselves? 0ne company is doing just that with a specialised up. we will speak to the boss of that firm later. you're with business live from bbc news. is this the first time we are saying the word brexit, 50 minutes into the programme? have you said it? i have not said it. brexit continues to dominate conversations in scottish business. scotland voted to remain in the eu, but prime minister theresa may says the deal she negotiated ‘is good for scotland'. as far as northern ireland is concerned, is able in scotland thinking that northern ireland might end up getting a better deal. victoria fritz is in stirling this morning to see what the brexit debate looks like 400 miles away from westminster. victoria, good morning. a short hop from westminster, every four across the uk looking brexit trying to work out what all of this might mean for

them. the city sterling quoted 2—3 in favour of remaining but two and a half years on, they have a conservative mp in charge of the city and he said they will back theresa may and conditionally backed the plan that has been set up. john waltonjoins me now, a director of go first sterling, businesses talk to you every day about how they are feeling, how this is impacting their business, what are the primary concerns about brexit?” business, what are the primary concerns about brexit? i think it's clarity, uncertainty, the last thing the high street needs is uncertainty, we are fighting for every pound, they need to know where spending is going to be, what things will happen with the process, the consta nt will happen with the process, the constant political footballing going on is driving everyone bonkers, to be honest. what is important is clarity and certainty, that's important for traders going forward. let's bring in vb, a maths and economics student, what is the

future hold for you, you voted to leave ? future hold for you, you voted to leave? i voted to leave on the basis that theresa may would have delivered on three main promises, border control, leaving the jurisdiction of the european court ofjustice and jurisdiction of the european court of justice and that jurisdiction of the european court ofjustice and that the uk can make out owfi ofjustice and that the uk can make our own trade deals as its own country and i feel the new deal we have presented completely file it's those promises and what we have now, we are still contributing to the eu and we are still bound by eu law and lastly we are still bound by the international trade agreement. there isa international trade agreement. there is a battle over brexit but a longer running fight over independence in scotla nd running fight over independence in scotland as well. your're watching business live — our top story ——— bosses from three of germany's top

car manufacturers are in the us today hoping to persuade the trump administration to ditch tariffs over imports. a quick look at how the markets are faring a mixed picture emerging, as you can see. it's not on the board at oil prices starting to rise again. now, many of us want to save more butjust never really get around to it — or lack the discipline. you may feel you have no spare money to save. in fact, more than 80 per cent of people in the uk don't save on a regular basis. and slightly more worryingly 9.6m households in britain have no savings at all. but when it comes to banking — two out of five people now regularly use mobile banking apps. moneybox is an app that uses technology to encourage people to save — and even invest — with as little as £i — or a dollar and a quarter. ben sta nway is co—founder of moneybox. welcome to the programme. you

started this company three years ago, prior to that you are sending flowers in boxes, tell us about that journey. there is a surprise in number of similarities between them, in both cases we are using technology through mobile phones to deliver a great customer experience andi deliver a great customer experience and i think part of the customer experience with money box is to try and make the whole saving and investing journey as simple as possible. tell us how it works. a really popular feature with money box is round ups, you connect a bank account and you can round up the change from your everyday purchases to invest for your future. it's a great place to start, people tend to spend 600 —— save £600 a year but three quarters of our customers go on to set aside large amounts of money towards things like houses, children, their retirement. say i buy a coffee and it cost me £2 23, what is money are we talking about

winding of? let's go to pounds 50 p. say you buy a copy for that, that 50p is automatically set aside, meaning before you've got into the office in the morning you have set money aside to invest. you rounded up money aside to invest. you rounded up to the nearest pound. always to the nearest pound. i would imagine for young people, millennial is, and you telling me that is your core market in many ways, in terms of the u pta ke market in many ways, in terms of the uptake so that is a great way for them to put money aside because they don't even have to think about it, most people at that stage in life feel they cannot actually put a certain amount to their income every month to one side. that's part of the psychological problem, isn't it? that's absolutely it, round—ups is a great way for people to get started, setting aside money and investing, it helps build up good habits and in a year or two must say, you come into a bit more money, money box makes it easy to set aside larger amounts for the future. the other

issue, such a saturated, competitive market, you look and you see advertising for savings accounts, banks with this saving rate etc, how do you set yourself aside because eve ryo ne do you set yourself aside because everyone wants to know, what do i get in return? i think within the investing space there are quite a load of competitors and i think it's fairto load of competitors and i think it's fair to say those competitors generally focus on people who already have a lot of money and helping them to investigate. at money box we try to help people get started, up people with perhaps slightly less money. what's the rate of return, that's a real draw.|j guess like with any investing its ha rd to guess like with any investing its hard to guarantee a rate of return but what we can say is the longer you are with it, the longer and more confident you can be in the rate of return. the stock market is delivered a 7% rate of return. you are putting the money in the stock market, that is what i am saying stop we encourage all at us to us to

think long term, in the short—term there is plenty of uncertainty and that can volatility, longer term you can have high confidence in your returns. let's talk about open banking, we will hear a lot more about that as the year goes on, the ide you can break down the walls of the traditional acts that hold our information and do not share it with anyone, the idea we can take information and use on ups like yours are others. how much of a threat is that to the big hangs, you are still pretty much smaller players and a market dominated either likes of natwest, rbs, hsbc and other big groups in the uk. money box was one of the first ten companies in the uk approved by the government for open banking. i think historically banks have been able to rely on people not switching. and i think in the future open banking will make it easier for people to switch, instead of you looking for the best product that your bag

offers you will be looking for the best product that any bank operas andi best product that any bank operas and i think be a challenge for banks. thank you so much for coming m, banks. thank you so much for coming in, interesting to hear about money box and here is how you can keep in touch. stay up—to—date with all the business news as it happens on our business news as it happens on our business live website. inside and analysis from our team of editors around the globe. and we want to hear from you, around the globe. and we want to hearfrom you, get around the globe. and we want to hear from you, get involved on the web page. 0n on twitter, it you can find us at bbc business. and we are on facebook. business live, on tv and online, what you need to know, when you need to know. let's see what other stories are being talked about on social media so interesting, having to put a cap

on four teachers are offered it christmas, i know they don't get paid out well. in the private sector is, some teachers are paid more than they are in the state sector. that is true, but i think it's interesting, in that there might be, the problem maybe then making a certain amount, then on, makes people feel they have to do it? keeping up with thejoneses. the idea of a gift is that it should be discretionary. lawrence makes a good want, when you have two cup appearance give teachers as presents quite honestly it's not a gift, it isa quite honestly it's not a gift, it is a bribe and that is the fundamental issue. julie says £50 as a gift for fundamental issue. julie says £50 as a giftfora fundamental issue. julie says £50 as a gift for a teacher? a thank you ca rd a gift for a teacher? a thank you card is sufficient, especially handmade. a £50 gift is bribery. natty, your twitter handle, £50 is like a weeks shop if you are u nfortu nate, like a weeks shop if you are unfortunate, it's a massive

competition, schools should say a card, small present, of less than £10 is more than enough. someone else, anne, says when she left primaries school she had four children, she gave the staff room a massive sackful of tea bags and they loved her for ever. that massive sackful of tea bags and they loved herfor ever. that is massive sackful of tea bags and they loved her for ever. that is the gift that keeps on giving for the entire year. everyone in the staff room, so many of you in touch, many saying this is completely ridiculous. home—made gifts, one teacher has beenin home—made gifts, one teacher has been in touch, she said the most valuable present he received was a handwritten note from the child explaining why she thinks he's one of the best teachers in the world. schools are crying out for funding, make a cash donation to school funds instead of the present for the teacher. varey good point. thanks so much for all your comments and thanks so much for all our guests. have a great day. we will see you soon. have a great day. we will see you soon. goodbye. good morning. a cold and frosty

start today for many of us, a bright star, lots of sunshine out there at the moment. the cloud increasing from the south—west today, with that cloud eventually some outbreaks of rain moving in as well. coming from this area of low pressure, this weather system, you can see the cloud associated with that moving north and east. for many others through today, bright and sunny. holding onto the sunshine across scotla nd holding onto the sunshine across scotland and northern ireland, the far north of england. some showers across scotland, wintry over the higher ground, southern areas, the sunshine turning hazy before its thickening further with rain moving into the south—west, and south wales. chilly day compared to yesterday, maximum temperatures between 5—9d. tonight the rain continuing to move northwards, with all the cloud around, milder air

pushing in, not as cold as last night but across the north—east of england and scotland, you concede when the temperature map, quite a difference. frost in the north, temperatures between —1 and minus three degrees, across the south and west, 6—9d. wednesday morning looking pretty wet for many, a bit of snow for a short time over the moors and northern pennines and southern uplands, the far north of scotla nd southern uplands, the far north of scotland right with sunshine. still quite chilly. elsewhere, milder but a very wet day for many of heavy rain spreading east, temperatures around 10—13d. going into thursday, whether it systems coming from the atlantic, a lot of cloud associated with those, rain spreading in during thursday with this set of weather fronts, firstly a warm front moving through, heavy rain for a time, the cold front pushing in behind that,

whether outbreaks of rain across the north and west. all of us at some point on thursday will experience some rain, perhaps unpretty wednesday, longer breaks in the rain, try spells. a warm day. on friday, another weather system moving in, this could be quite deep. gales and severe gales particularly around the irish sea coast and western scotland, heavy rain for some of us, could well cause some disruption, well worth staying tuned to the forecast over the next few days. goodbye. you're watching bbc news at 9am with me, annita mcveigh. the headlines... the most senior advisor to the european court ofjustice advises the uk can effectively cancel brexit without asking for permission. theresa may will set out the case for her brexit deal in a five day debate beginning this afternoon. before that, mps will vote on whether the uk government broke parliament's rules by failing to publish the full legal advice it received on the brexit plan.

transport secretary chris grayling, is being urged by mps to take some responsibility for the chaotic implementation of new rail timetables. the schools inspection service, 0fsted, says it's a scandal that thousands of children in england with special needs are missing out on key support. he speaks in french.