hello, this is the business briefing. i'm samantha simmonds. trade war escalation. asian shares tumble as donald trump threatens to expand tariffs to all chinese goods, ahead of talks planned for this week. and, the robots are coming. as artificial intelligence makes advances, we ask is yourjob next? and on the markets. you can see the reaction to those tweets from donald trump. japan down 0.02%. the hang seng also down. plenty more on the markets coming up.

well, it's being reported that china is considering delaying a trip by its top trade negotiators to washington this week, after president donald trump threatened to expand trade tariffs to all chinese goods because he said talks on a us—china trade deal were moving "too slowly". in recent weeks, both sides had seemed close to striking a deal, but on sunday, president trump took to twitter to announce a tariff increase on $200 billion worth of chinese goods from 10% to 25%. he also said $325 billion of other chinese goods, that are currently untaxed, can soon expect a 25% tariff. so far, the us has imposed tariffs on $250 billion of chinese goods, after accusing china of unfair trade practices.

beijing has put duties on $110 billion of us goods, blaming the us for starting "the largest trade war in economic history". 0ur asia business correspondent karishma vaswani joins us now from singapore, where she has been following the story. karishma, welcome to you. it seemed to come out of the blue this tweet. things have been going so well, do we know where it has all gone wrong? that is not clear to be honest and you're absolutely right, things did appear to be moving on a a positive pace. remember, just last week, we have the us trade delegation led by the us trade secretary stephen nguyen and the trade representative robert lighthizer. they were in beijing at the end of last week and at the end of those talks, mnnuchin actually tweeted that those talks we re actually tweeted that those talks were productive and they would move to washington at the end of next

week. —— mnuchin. we have had the threats of further tariffs as you just explaining in those tweets and thatis just explaining in those tweets and that is not going to go down well with beijing. and there are reports, i think it is in the wall street journal, suggesting that this high level delegation that was coming to washington from china, that may be off now, do we know about that? well, that is not been confirmed yet to be honest, i would not be surprised. the weight that the chinese do business, face is very important to them and to have this kind of slap in the face, if you will, as a result president trump's tweets this morning, that will be very difficult to stomach because remember also, beijing also has to betray a very strong, positive position to its domestic audience. the chinese economy has seen impact on the trade tariffs and is pressure, the government there, to try to get a resolution as quickly as possible, just as the united

states is, but i think it will be very difficult for beijing to ignore that these, president trump's tweets it happened and they will be trying to figure out what the next steps are. karishma, donald trump also said that thanks to the revenues received from the tariffs imposed over the past few months, that the us economy has grown as a result of that. is that the case? do we know if that is true? that is a bit of creative imagery, i think it would be fairto creative imagery, i think it would be fair to say. it is true that the us economy has grown and we have seen us economy has grown and we have seen some us economy has grown and we have seen some positive numbers when you look at thejobs seen some positive numbers when you look at the jobs data just as recently as friday, but actually, amongst the people who are bearing the cost of these trade towers are american consumers because prices will go up, especially if we see more tariffs. remember, these ta riffs more tariffs. remember, these tariffs are put on products coming out of china, so it is notjust chinese companies who make these things, it is also american

businesses who have factories in china sending those goods over to the united states, so both united states china suffer from these tariffs. 0k, karishma, plenty more to come on this over the coming hours, but for now, thank you. later this week, anyone will be able to buy stock in the ride sharing firm, uber. other major stock market floatations for firms like wework and airbnb are expected in the coming months. they're all firms that are part of the so—called ‘sharing economy', where assets are shared between individuals, usually for a fee and through a digital platform. the past decade has seen a rapid growth in such on demand businesses. in the us alone, spending for these services rose by 58% in 2017 to $75.7 billion. it's also led to the rise of so—called ‘unicorn' businesses — that's venture capital—backed firms valued at more than $1 billion. the first to list on the stock market in 2019 was ride—sharing app lyft, with a valuation of $22 billion.

but that's dwarfed by the expectation surrounding its rival, uber. this friday, the ride—hailing firm hopes it might raise up to $100 billion when it goes to market. that's an awful lot of money for a company that lost $1.8 billion last year. another sharing economy business expecting to go public this year is the workspace firm wework, which recently rebranded itself as the we company. it's hoping to be valued at nearly $50 billion. well, alex stepha ny, author of the business of sharing: making it in the new sharing economy, and also chief executive of homelessness charity, beam. welcome to you, good to have you. let's talk about uber in these massive expectations. are they realistic? are they going to be heading to a fall given they are making such remarkable losses at the moment? they certainly are lossmaking, as you pointed out, they lost $1.8 billion last year on an

adjusted basis, ithink lost $1.8 billion last year on an adjusted basis, i think investors can forgive massive losses in the company is going really quickly and i think that is really the challenge four to with their ipo story. 2017 to incredibly quickly, more than doubled, 2018 growth had fallen, 2019 quarter one, actually blood volume is down 1% year—on—year. so they're going to have to convince investors they can generate significant growth in other areas. why these companies having such crazy valuations? when the likes of uberare making crazy valuations? when the likes of uber are making such crazy losses? well, investors do like marketplace companies like sharing economy businesses, if they can become dominant, it is possible that they can generate large amounts of profit for a long time. so the businesses touting its to become a kind of com plete touting its to become a kind of complete logistics and transportation business, to move

into areas like freight and food delivered delivery something like uber eats. do you think we're going to see a massive crush in the coming months? —— delivery. we have so many of these massive companies that are involved in the sharing economy looking at ipos. well, about 896 of businesses have been unprofitable in the united states this year, which is somewhat ominously the highest percentage since the height of the dot—com bubble. buti percentage since the height of the dot—com bubble. but i think that these businesses are much stronger, fundamentally, than those businesses backin fundamentally, than those businesses back in the early to thousands. i think it is probably quite unlikely that we are at the top of the massive bubble that is going to burst, that it might be that investors are little bit lukewarm on some of these businesses if they cannot show that the growth is there. always, alex, thank you so much for coming in, thank you. —— all right. are you worried that a robot will take yourjob? thanks to advances in artificial intelligence, that question has

become "is yourjob next?" ai enthusiasts argue that the technology frees people up to do less menial work, but what work will need doing? mark lobel reports from dubai, where a major gathering of ai engineers and entrepreneurs gathered to discuss the future of the workplace. at this artificial intelligence summit in dubai, engineers and enthusiasts from around the world are trying to get to grips with one of the most powerful emerging technologies. the enthusiastic networking and brainstorming here is tempered by a sobering thought, that ai will cost some people theirjobs. ai will cost some people theirjobs. a large american retailer, walmart, is already using machines to stack its shelves and scrub its flaws. robots are replacing humans, but it is not just low robots are replacing humans, but it is notjust low skilled robots are replacing humans, but it is not just low skilled jobs robots are replacing humans, but it is notjust low skilled jobs that would be affected by the new industrial revolution. lots of jobs are going away, they are not all blue—collarjobs. are going away, they are not all blue—collar jobs. they are going away, they are not all blue—collarjobs. they are also white—collar jobs, blue—collarjobs. they are also white—collarjobs, so entry—level service professionaljobs, lawyers and bankers. so what can be done

about it? in sessions like this, the government has partnered with microsoft, amongst others, to provide much—needed ai training for local businesses. my background is hr andi local businesses. my background is hr and i really believe that people should anticipate these changes and prepare themselves for the future. should anticipate these changes and prepare themselves for the futurelj prepare themselves for the future.|j think that taking this leap is going to acquire effort and a lot of help from the ai practitioners, yeah, definitely, but there is great opportunity i see. the uae's minister for artificial intelligence as he is keen to pre—empt the harm ofjob as he is keen to pre—empt the harm of job losses as he is keen to pre—empt the harm ofjob losses and social unrest. we're mapping out all thejobs ofjob losses and social unrest. we're mapping out all the jobs that are going be affected, we are also trying to create programmes to assist people who will lose their jobs because of ai and put them in other positions that might be useful moving forward. but the government admits it can't provide training for everyone. the private sector and individuals, it says, will have to play their part. no—one he doubts

that al play their part. no—one he doubts that ai will shake up the workplace, but despite the turmoil, many think it will be transformative. perhaps the most striking thing of all is how politicians and companies alike are peering over the edge nervously. that's it for the business briefing. up next — newsbriefing. stay with us. in northern ireland, the misuse of prescription medication has rocketed over the last decade. it's now a factor in more than half of all drug—related deaths there. 0ur ireland correspondent chris page has more. i adored alan, he was my best friend, we were soulmates, but

loving my child was not enough. friend, we were soulmates, but loving my child was not enoughm lisa maclachlan's home, the sense of loss is unmistakable. her son took his own life, three years after he was first given a drug, known as lyrica. the doctor initially prescribed it for nerve pain, but alan eventually became dick did. he just got that down that he just could not cope anymore because there isa could not cope anymore because there is a big black hole and they are all just falling down into it. this legal problem is a particularly difficult issue in northern ireland. —— addicted. here, the majority of drugs related deaths are linked to the description medication. this coroner has heard disturbing evidence of how teenagers have got the drugs. we have had families coming in and telling us about young people as young as 16, 17, younger sometimes. these are young people who have not received a prescription

from a gp that are buying prescription drugs on street corners. an older generation came through the troubles here, which is left a legacy of physical and mental health needs, but people work in addiction health services, believe too many drugs are being prescribed. certainly, because the board in northern ireland, we dispensing and prescribing more of those types of medications than any other place in the uk. the stormont department of health says prescription drugs are potential poisons and it is working to reduce availability and raise awareness, and provide treatments. stay with us. coming up at six o'clock on breakfast, we'll have all the day's news, business and sport. this is the briefing from bbc news. the latest headlines: a major un report has warned of a global ecological catastrophe, calling for immediate action to reverse a dramatic decline across the natural world.

more than a0 people are dead, after a russian plane caught fire and made a forced landing in moscow. israel targets and kills a senior palestinian militant in gaza, as hostilities between the two sides escalate. now it's time to look at the stories that are making the headlines in the media across the world. and we begin with the daily telegraph, which says the uk prime minister's holding secret discussions over a three—way second referendum ahead of a crunch meeting with main opposition party labour this week. in the times business section, us president donald trump has vowed to increase american tariffs on $200 billion of chinese products from 10% to 25%. his threat to escalate the trade war between the two countries follows frustration that recent talks have been progressing too slowly. the usa today says drivers for ride—share companies uber and lyft are planning strikes in cities across the country over working conditions. the strike comes ahead of uber‘s ipo filing, which advocates say highlight the poor working standards and pay

structure that the company has in place for drivers. 0n the bbc news website, brunei has backtracked on laws introduced last month, that would have made sex between men and adultery punishable by stoning to death. sultan hassanal bolkiah has extended a moratorium on the death penalty to cover the new legislation. the rethink follows global outcry over the laws, including boycotts and celebrity protests. and finally, on the mail online website, an nhs nurse who ran the london marathon was told her guinness world record attempt would not count because she was not wearing a dress. jessica anderson was aiming to become the fastest female marathon runner dressed as a nurse, but her scrubs and trousers did not match the uniform criteria. that's got more of these stories. with me is henry bonsu, who's a broadcaster and international conference host. that's out of the daily telegraph.

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