this is the business briefing. i'm ben bland. back from the brink. the us shelves higher tariffs on china ‘until further notice‘. but president trump's trade chief warns the standoff could go on for years. plus, could 2019 be the year the us boom turns to bust? growth figures out later could confirm the slowdown has begun. and on the markets, asian shares fallback as the us trade chief dials back expectations for a sweeping deal with china — and sentiment also being hit by weak factory data from china.

we start in the us, where president trump's chief trade negotiator has confirmed a big hike in tariffs on chinese goods will be suspended "until further notice". import taxes on $200 billion worth of chinese products were due to rise from 10% to 25% on friday — but the president said on sunday he had decided to delay the deadline. giving testimony before congress, though, us trade representative robert lighthizer warned there would be no quick solution to the trade war. we have engaged in a very intense, extremely serious, and very specific negotiation with china on crucial structural issues for several months now. we are making real progress. if we can complete this effort and,

again, isay we can complete this effort and, again, i say if, and can reach a satisfactory solution to the all—important satisfactory solution to the all—importa nt outstanding issue satisfactory solution to the all—important outstanding issue of enforceability, as well other concerns, we might be able to have an agreement that helps us turn the corner in our economic relationship with china. let me be clear, much still needs to be done in, both before an agreement is reached and, more importantly, after it is reached, if one is reached. let's speak to our correspondent stephen mcdonell in beijing. so it is interesting, we have spoken of the past couple of weeks, and at varying times there have been some very warm sounds, varying times there have been some very warm sounds, optimistic sounds coming from the trade talks. this seems to add a dose of realism, perhaps, and a bit of uncertainty about whether a deal will actually be done to yellow absolutely. we saw a much more measured and some might

even say pessimistic analysis from robert lighthizer there. he is with the —— using words like if and perhaps and might when, late last week, people thought it would all happen in the markets responded kind of optimistically. well, now we are finding out, you know, it may not be as clear—cut as it seems. of course the problem is that there is big differences in opinion from the us, in between the us and china, are not easily resolved. for example, the us as china should be propping up industry that the state shouldn't be inserting itself into the economy the way the us, you know, agrees with. well, you know, the chinese government isn't going to stop doing that. they think their model works. on the other hand, opening up china more easily to international

investment, that is something that is possible and much more easily achieved. so it all depends what they will be satisfied with in terms of signing off on some sort of an agreement. but, as we heard there, this could go on for years. and not sure what that means for the tariffs, of course, which were already in place. do they stay in place for years? does that mean they will or will not be increased in the coming years? this is all to be determined. so a much more, well, bleak analysis from robert lighthizer ok, thanks very much indeed. stephen macdonald are in beijing. let's stay in the us, where the economy is on track to post its longest period of growth in us history. but is boom about to turn to bust? gdp figures for the last quarter of 2018 are out in a few hours time — and they could show the beginnings of a sharp slowdown. one poll of economists sees growth falling to 1.9% in the three months to december — down from 3.4% in the previous quarter.

here's michelle fleury in new york. we have the greatest economy ever in the history of our country. donald trump frequently boasts about us economic growth. we are so proud of the economy. and he could soon celebrate another major milestone, the economic expansion which began injune the economic expansion which began in june 2009 is the economic expansion which began injune 2009 is on its way to becoming america's longest. an economic miracle is taking place in the united states. but is this economic miracle built to last? while we view current economic conditions as healthy and the outlook as favourable, in the past few months we have seen some crosscurrents few months we have seen some crosscurre nts and conflicting signals. us economy maintained a solid growth throughout most of 2018, but economists expect gdp numbers released on thursday to show

the pace slowed down at the end of last year. in many ways, the us economy isjust like america's craft brewing industry, which has tripled in size since the start of the decade. never mind happy, it's been a happy few yea rs. mind happy, it's been a happy few years. this is darragh leader pilsner. this is the beer we are probably best known for. we mayjust shy of 1000 barrels in ourfirst probably best known for. we mayjust shy of 1000 barrels in our first you —— this is our elite. we made about 2700 in our third year. in our a0 we finished on a000 barrels and this year we will do six. bicol been good. it is hardly surprising that with unemployment low and starting to rise, more americans are happy to spend their hard earned cash buying their favourite beer, spend their hard earned cash buying theirfavourite beer, but, as with theirfavourite beer, but, as with the economy, many in the craft brewing industry are wondering how long can the good times last? a subject for debate over a glass of

foaming beer. michelle fleury, bbc news, brooklyn, new york. let's return to asia, where, as you've been hearing, president trump is holding talks with north korean leader kimjong—un in the vietnamese capital hanoi. on wednesday, mr trump claimed via his twitter feed that north korea's economy could thrive like host vietnam's if it denuclearised — calling its potential "awesome, a great opportunity, like almost none other in history". but is it? at the moment the us has a full trade and financial embargo against the country — and even foreign companies doing business there can be penalised by the americans. the united nations also has measures in place — banning shipments of coal, iron ore, seafood and textiles to and from north korea. but because pyongyang doesn't publish economic data, it's hard to measure the precise impact the sanctions are having. the country is thought to be home to around 2a.5 million people. a large potential market — with some 18 million of working age. us bank morgan stanley thinks that

if the north korean economy did open up to the rest of the world it could offer workers at a lower cost than vietnam and attract $9 billion in new investment every year. let's get more on this story and speak to miha hribernik, who is head of asia research at the consultancy verisk maplecroft. he is in our singapore bureau. how much of a potential is there then. in reality, out of the talks? well, on paper, north korea's economic potential is amazing. every sector of the economy would need to be modernised, in some cases rebuilt from scratch, infrastructure would need to be updated, rebuilt. north korea has an estimated up to $10

trillion worth of untapped mineral reserves. you already mentioned the potential for low—cost manufacturing, for example. i mean, it's a bit of a cliche, but it is one of the final frontiers on the planet. how many places are there that are still completely isolated economically and had nowhere to go but up? the problem is, in practice, of course, there are a semi— obstacles of course, there are a semi— o bsta cles as of course, there are a semi— obstacles as to be nearly insurmountable. obviously the economic sanctions are the first one, but even if those are scaled back substantially or eliminated altogether, there are still massive, massive obstacles. north korea is one of the most hostile investment environment on the planet. there is zero respect for property rights. there are pervasive human rights violations that in a responsible investor would want to be associated with. there is no rule of law. corporate government —— corporate governance is absolutely horrendous. every facet of the state would need to be transformed. so we have seen

some opening of the economy. there is an ongoing marketisation and slight accelerate three forms of the last two years. but if we want to see an economic boom you would need an accompanying transformation of the regulatory environment. as well as adjustments to the political system, which are simply unavoidable, it would carry a tremendous risk for kim jong—un personally. thank you very much for giving us your analysis on that. miha hribernikfrom giving us your analysis on that. miha hribernik from verisk maplecroft. now let's brief you on some other business stories. —— that is it. let us preview on the markets. investors also digesting some weak factory date up from beijing and there is fresher geopolitical tensions in kashmir putting some negative sentiment

among investors. that is where we believe business briefing. coming up next is news briefing and we will go through the papers. see you soon. the children's commissioner for england is warning that the same mistakes that led to failures in tackling child sexual exploitation are being repeated with gangs. new research estimates that 27,000 children in england are in gangs. it adds that thousands of children who are gang members, or who know a gang member, have been the victims of violent crime in the past year. dominic casciani reports. an increasingly familiar scene in some parts of our cities, more pressure on the police to catch the killers using knives, more questions

for the government. three teenagers have died in a fortnight in birmingham. the west midlands police and crime commissioner says knife crime is now a national emergency. and the children's commissioner for england, the watchdog for their rights, today says local authorities have no real grasp of the scale of the problem. a report estimates that there are 27,000 under—18s in criminal gangs. there is only a quarter known to the authorities. she warns councils and police could repeat mistakes seen in how they failed to tackle street grooming by sex abuse gangs stucco we have seen, in the headlines and report after report, showing the number of children involved in gangs and the concern about serious violence and violence against children, and what we have found in this report is that there are around 37,000 children that identify themselves in gangs. and another 3a,000 who are around gators 27,000. cory jenny davis shot

deadin gators 27,000. cory jenny davis shot dead in london in 2017. an official investigation revealed how he was groomed by a gang but treated as a criminal when he and his mother asked social services for help. the police investigation continues and the children's commissioner is urging all local agencies to learn from this tragedy and others about how to spot the children most at risk before it's too late. dominic casciani, bbc news. this is the briefing from bbc news. iam ben this is the briefing from bbc news. i am ben bland. the latest headlines: donald trump's former lawyer and fixer has given some explosive testimony — condemning the president — to a congressional committee. pakistan calls for talks with india — after fighter jets clashed in kashmir in a major escalation. day two of the hanoi summit — and face—to—face negotiations are under way between donald trump and kim jong—un.

now it's time to look at the stories that are making the headlines in the media across the world. we begin with the daily telegraph and of course the dramatic testimony of mr trump's fixer, michael cohen, calling the president a racist, a conman and a cheat. meanwhile, looking to the viet nam news and the picture that trump would far rather was seen — of him and ‘his friend' kimjong—un — at the second day of meetings. let's move now to the bbc website and the roll out of global internet coverage via satellites in space. what will this mean for the future? more on that later. the front of the i and the news that the bbc and itv have outlined more details of their new, paid—for streaming service which they will launch jointly for british customers later this year. and a picture of abfab which is a huge hit in north america!

finally the new york times and — in the year of the pig! — a really interesting story about chinese farms turning to advantanced technologies to help them beat a deadly swine disease. yes, facial recognition for pigs. with me is iain anderson. we will come to that in a moment. let's start with, well, what a dramatic day in washington. the man who once said he would take a bullet for the president, such a loyal aide to him now completely putting the knife in. he is firing the bullets. and he has a lot of ammunition. he turned up in congress yesterday. he will be back in congress in a private session with the intelligence committee,