this is the business briefing. i'm sally bundock. the trade talks we almost forgot about. the european union's trade commissioner is due to meet her us counterpart in washington later today. ghosn home? the former nissan boss could leave prison today after spending almost four months in detention. and on the markets: in asia, no big story still on trade breakthrough between the end china.

—— between the us and china. eu trade commissioner cecilia malmstrom is in washington for talks with us trade representative robert lighthizer, as she tries to head off crippling new us tariffs. the european commission — which handles negotiations on behalf of the eu's 28 member states — is keen to reach a swift, limited deal on trade in industrial goods, excluding the tricky area of agriculture. brussels wants to resolve the issue of us tariffs on steel and aluminium and avert potential tariffs of up to 25% on european cars and auto parts.

donald trump renewed his threat to impose them last month after a truce agreed injuly. the us president last month received a confidential u.s. commerce department report which is widely thought to conclude that vehicle imports pose a national security threat. he has 90 days to decide whether to act on it. the impact of us tariffs on germany's key motor industry would be devastating, with vehicle exports to the us plunging by an estimated 50 percent. the eu has promised a quick and effective response, if washington now goes ahead with them. dr sam fowles, fellow, foreign policy centrejoins me now. just how will these talks go today in washington? well, they start off fairly far in washington? well, they start off fairlyfarapart in washington? well, they start off fairly far apart despite the good words. the eu has the beginnings of a mandate to talk about industrial exports. the us has said, we are absolutely not talking about anything unless it includes agricultural exports and the eu has said, we are definitely not talking

about agriculture. there is a long way to come together, before. when it comes to the industrial exports from europe into the united states, that's what's so important. some the biggest economies in europe, notably germany. car exports account for potentially io% germany. car exports account for potentially 10% of the german economy. this is why you are seeing a disagreement in york at the moment. germany saying, we really need to push forward and find a deal with a trump administration. were is france is basing it much more on agriculture and wine. it's much more keen to stand back and wait till after the eu elections. it is hard to predict but how do you think this will end up, given the fact that europe is saying we are ready to impose our own tariffs if things don't go well. the problem we have

here is the attitude the trump administration has taken, the reduced world trade talks to the level of playground posturing. if you don't make a deal with us, we are going to do bad things to you. the eu has said, if you do bad things to us, we will do the same. that is not a good way to start negotiation. the best we could hope for at this point is an agreement to talk more in the future. companies are repositioning themselves. the big car giants with factories in the united states deciding to make the ca i’s united states deciding to make the cars in the united states. it's an absurd situation when you get this approach to trade in the 21st century. or to manufacturer is integrated transnational and it's not simply a factor of these threats

from the top —— the trump administration, that european manufacturers make things in the united states, that was always the case before so that any sanctions the united states imposes will be as bad or very bad for united states manufacturers and consumers and investors as they will for the eu. that's why you have this unheard—of coalition in the united states, the manufacturers and unions and consumer groups. thank you for your time. we'll keep you across how these discussions go but now, let's bring you up—to—date with the whereabouts of former nissan chairman carlos ghosn. he spent almost four months in detention and this is the prison where he was for some time. he has

paid the bail. he is facing charges of financial misconduct and is denying all the charges against him. as you know, mariko oi has better crosses. you have been on carlos ghosn watch, and he is behind bars as far as you know? that's right, but as you mentioned, is just paid $9 million which you couldn't post yesterday. there were reports in japanese media that year to pay this in cash and his lawyer was quoted as saying, you can't just in cash and his lawyer was quoted as saying, you can'tjust find $9 million in your pocket, you can't even pick it in a suitcase but he and his legal team have managed to pay that bail money so he can be walking out the detention centre any time now. the decision did come as quite a surprise yesterday when it was announced. his bail conditions

are very strict, monitored all the time, has to go to his lawyer's office if he wants to access computers otherwise his mobile phone and laptop usage will be monitored. he can actually go out shopping as long as he doesn't meet with people related to the case. he can even go ona related to the case. he can even go on a one night trip as long as it is in thejapan of on a one night trip as long as it is in the japan of course. he had to give up his passport to secure the bail. he wasn't too pleased with the conditions for his bail release of this is the third time his legal tea m this is the third time his legal team has requested this. this time he's managed to secure a limited amount of freedom. thank you so much, talk to you again when we see movement in that detention centre in tokyo. now let's brief you on some other business stories. british mps have been promised a vote on any changes to workers' rights after brexit as theresa may seeks labour support to pass her deal on leaving the eu. no 10 said parliament would be given

a say over whether to adopt any new protections introduced on the continent and to stay aligned with eu standards. the union movement said what was being offered was "flimsy procedural twea ks". all this week we're covering the geneva motor show, and this time we're looking at a really iconic british brand, aston martin the prefered car ofjames bond and others. the company has just recently gone public and theo leggett — who's at the show for us — asked ceo andy palmer about it's performance since. first of all, the underlying performance of the company was very good. to achieve a 26% growth in sales volume, in a very volatile market, it was very good but we did have the one—off cost of the ipo and thatis

have the one—off cost of the ipo and that is not going to repeat itself. the share prices down, it is u nfortu nate the share prices down, it is unfortunate that it's down and clearly we need to do betterjob. explaining the equity story. that is ourjob, it is to demonstrate by doing that we are capable of delivering the plan. while all this has been going on, you have a distraction of brexit. you've been building up contingency plans but now we don't even know what date we will be leaving. what is your take on that? from our point of view, as purely a dustin martin, we can cope with it. we don't worry too much about tariffs. if they come, we can charge goes through. what we do worry about is the supply chain. including the finances we put in place of course, was to plant the worst, basically we hope for the

best. the larger industry has a concern around brexit. the effect it has a non— indigenous companies, the japanese transplants, the other investments, my greatest fear is that they go away over time because the uk isn't such a great place to make cars if you're having to place ta riffs make cars if you're having to place tariffs and create some issues to the supply chain further down the road. that is the big picture. you have had to spend money. the prospect potentially that brexit could be delayed. it's the right thing to do. you can't turn around and say, i knew it was coming and i didn't do anything. we have put our contingency plans in place the in place. bringing engines and transmissions in and out of the country. we have made a scenario

around and no deal brexit. that is the right and proper thing to do. a man has been mauled to death by a lion caged at his family home in the eastern czech republic. michal prasek kept the nine year old big cat and another lioness for breeding, in home—made enclosures in his back yard — even though he'd been denied planning permission and fined for illegal breeding. mr prasek‘s father found his body in the lion's cage and told local media it had been locked from the inside. our correspondent ramzan karmali has the story. police shooters leave the residence of michal prasek,

a 33—year—old man mauled to death by his pet lion. prasek had bought the then 6—year—old lion in 2016 and thrn bought a lioness in order to breed them. his father originally found his body in the lion's cage which had been locked from the inside. local police said they were forced into drastic action to get to the stricken breeder. translation: in the morning, an incident between the owner and the lion he kept occurred, resulting in fatal consequences. in order to reach the man, police had to shoot both lions dead. mr prasek and his lions made international news injune 2018. his lioness attacked a cyclist while being taken for a walk by the breeder. back then, police deemed itjust a traffic violation. local residents had repeatedly voiced their concerns. mr prasek kept the lions in home built pens and did so without getting the appropriate permits. also, vets repeatedly refused to give him permission to breed.

in fact, he'd been fined a number of times as a result and authorities were left powerless after he refused anyone onto his property. a lack of alternative facilities or any evidence of animal cruelty meant the lions couldn't be forcibly removed. ramzan karmali, bbc news. this is the briefing. carlos ghosn's soon to be on his way home — the ex—nissan poss has paid the $9 million bail required to leave this jail injapan. r kelly angrily denies child sex abuse allegations in his first tv interview since being charged.

now it's time to look at the stories that are making the headlines in the media across the world. we begin in the uk with the daily telegraph, counter—terror police are investigating a possible link between the three packages containing explosives found across london and irish dissidents. the front page of the japan times, covers the decision by a tokyo court to grant bail to former nissan boss carlos ghosn whose release is expected shortly. and staying in the car industry, the times business section tells us that executives attending the geneva motor show say leading carmakers are "on death row" as they await clarity on brexit. on brexit, in the city am, the governor of the bank of england, mike carney, tells the house of lords that the uk is now better prepared for a no deal brexit.

finally the sun calls kylejenner a "selfie—made billionaire". the reality tv star has become the world's youngest billionaire at the age of 21. she took the top spot away from facebook founder mark zuckerberg in the forbes' annual billionaires list. with me is andrew tuck editor of monocle, a global news and business magazine. let us get stuck in. we started this story that was emerging in the uk yesterday afternoon. it talks about a bomb plot with the stamp of irish distance. and they are linking the two. many papers around the uk are looking at this story. these are three potential crude a letter bombs that were sent yesterday. a few

interesting things, the