this is business live from bbc news with victoria fritz and maryam moshiri. president trump prepares to head to tokyo as japanese firms are braced for the impact of the us trade war with china. live from london, that's our top story on friday 2a may. japan is set to woo president trump this weekend as it seeks to avoid a trade battle with the us, while top japanese firms worry the dispute between china and the us is already hurting their business. also in the programme, it's only

the 24th but is this the end of may? we'll have the latest live from westmintser about the prime minister's expected departure. global stocks showed signs of stabilising on friday, after a sharp sell—off on wall street as the deepening dispute between the us and china weighed on sentiment. and huawei's week has gone from bad to worse and the pounds taken a battering. we'll take a look back on that and some of the other business stories from the last five days with our economics correspondent andrew walker. and, as facebook announces plans to launch its own crypto—currency next year, we want to know, would you trust facebook enough to use its digital currency? or could it mean an easier way to spend online? let us know — just use the hashtag bbcbizlive. hello and welcome to business live. we start injapan, where president trump arrives this weekend

on a four—day state visit. on the schedule, it's all pomp and ceremony. a sumo wrestling tournament, golf with prime minister shinzo abe, and a meeting with newly—crowned emperor naruhito. but behind the scenes there is growing tension over trade, and anxiety from japanese companies about what the president might do next. japan is one of america's biggest trading partners. us exports to japan were $75 billion last year. but japanese exports to the us were nearly double that — over $142 billion. that means japan's trade surplus with the us hit over $67 billion in 2018. president trump wants to rebalance that and the two sides have begun talks on a new trade agreement. japan's car makers are particularly nervous.

they sold $51 billion worth of vehicles to the us last year. president trump has threatened to hit imported vehicles and parts with steep taxes, although he has postponed the move for six months. japan is already feeling the effects of the us trade war with china — its biggest customer. it's hitting the chinese economy, which in turn is taking its toll on japanese export figures, which have been falling all this year. with us now is sean curtin, academic, author and former editor of japan society review. how important is that traditionally pretty good relationship between the two leader is going to be over this trip? i think because of the bitter trade war with china and the disruption and shock waves coming out of it, it is increasingly important for the permit is only a month since abe and trump met, they will meet also at the end ofjune

for the 620. i think trump has realised, with the problems with china, he needs an ally in the region and needs to reassure the japanese. also there are trade negotiations going on between the us andjapan. he negotiations going on between the us and japan. he wants to give the impression that those are going smoothly. the japanese want to calm nerves and to see if they can get trump into their orbit because he is such an unpredictable president, it is very difficult to know exactly what he is going to do. as you showed, there is a huge amount of money and exports to the us so it is such an important customer and very important forjapan to keep trump on board as best they can. you mentioned china, and that is a big dealfor the us in terms of mentioned china, and that is a big deal for the us in terms of the trade war but also japan is very worried about china and its rise and thatis worried about china and its rise and that is another reason why the talks are so that is another reason why the talks are so important. i think there is a huge geopolitical and geo— economic issue here because china has its belt and wrote initiative where it

is investing billions worldwide and in that region. japan has taken a fence sitting approach and is somewhat four, somewhat against the idea. trump is against it. we have all of the problems with qua weight. there is so much turmoil in the region that i think this will be to steady nerve gas with huawei. it will also be to reinforce japan as an ally. worried how are japanese ministers about some of the rhetoric from trump about japan ministers about some of the rhetoric from trump aboutjapan and trade and also the fact that there will need to bea also the fact that there will need to be a new trade agreement? interesting you mention it, i think president trump will enjoy his trip because the japanese press are fairly desperate to have fairly sanitised in but they never have his incendiary tweets and rather strange utterances. the japanese people's impression of trump is not as negative as it is in english—speaking countries where we can understand what he says first—hand. also the japanese are fairly passive, so they will not be

any big demonstrations. i think amongst japanese there is deep concern about where is trump leading us concern about where is trump leading us and where are we taking him. good to have you on the programme, thank you for coming in. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news. facebook is finalising plans to launch its own crypto—currency next year. the social media giant is planning to set up a digital payments system in about a dozen countries by the first quarter of 2020. it wants to start testing what it's referring to internally as ‘6lobalcoin‘, by the end of this year. president trump has announced a $16—billion bailout for us farmers who've been badly hit by the trade war with china. he said the emergency aid would help to keep what he called america's farms thriving. elon musk‘s spacex company has launched the first 60 satellites for its starlink project. they will form part of a system beaming broadband internet access to customers around the world.

mr musk hopes the business will generate cash to fund his space exploration plans but alternative systems are being planned by rivals including amazon'sjeff bezos. prime minister theresa may is expected to announce the date of her departure from downing street on friday morning. rob watson is in westminster for us. why now? good morning, right now, because there was not much point in theresa may anymore. i say that because essentially, when it became clear that the plan she had for her withdrawal agreement with the european union simply was not going to get through parliament, you have everybody in the governing conservative party saying that if she cannot get her deal through, her plan for leaving the eu, what on earth is the point of theresa may? i think that has been made clear to her in the last few days and hours andi her in the last few days and hours and i guess she has reached the conclusion that she cannot go on.

what happens next? she will not go flouncing out of the door of ten downing st and leave right away! what we are expecting is for her to lay out a timetable. she will say, i will be leaving on a certain date, she might say i will be expecting a leadership contest to start on a date, we think sometime early next month. if you look at the big picture here, what will happen now, and this is the real political story, not her departure, her premiership has been dead and gone for some time, is what comes next. i think what comes next is a really ugly and nasty contest to succeed her. of course, whoever wins is going to inherit a poisoned chalice, that of a deeply divided conservative party, a country now more polarised than ever, and i think, interestingly, a business community and an international community and an international community which i think has already made up its mind that brexit is a huge mistake for the country. we

will leave it there. thank you. all of this very much playing on the minds of investors. markets are licking their wounds after a rough day, trade war tensions are showing no signs of abating and theresa may's day of departure may in fact be today. here's what's moving markets. things got ugly on thursday as markets digested concerns around the trade war, federal reserve policy and the economic growth outlook — more on that later — and what the imf has to say. more on that later — crude oil had its worst day of the year so far on thursday and is headed for its biggest weekly drop of 2019. in the last ten minutes it has recovered a fraction. uk retail sales data is due in an hour and it's a quiet day for earnings. most notable is danish shipping giant moller—maersk, a good bellwetherfor the state

of global trade. the company today saying that "considerable uncertainties" stemming from global trade tensions will probably hurt its business. zoe thomas has the details of what's ahead on wall street today. friday is expected to be a relatively slow day on wall street, as most people prepare for the three—day memorial day weekend. one thing to watch for are orders of durable goods. the commerce department is expected to say that orders of durable goods fell to 2% in april from 2.6% in march. durable goods orders are important because they are a sign both of consumer sentiment and of business confidence. when businesses buy machinery — computers, electronics — it's a sign they are investing for the long term. when those orders slip, it can signal that they are waiting to spend money and that can eventually lead to an economic slowdown, so expect investors to be paying close attention to april's figure to get a sense of what might be in for the economy in the coming months.

joining us sonja laud, deputy chief investment officer at legal & 6eneral investment management. thank you forjoining us. all eyes will be on westminster today. what do the markets make of what is happening? i am assume they have already factored a lot of it in? absolutely, and i'm sure the market are absolutely, and i'm sure the market a re less absolutely, and i'm sure the market are less glued to the screen, they would rather look at what is happening around the world and the most important factor is the dispute between the us and china. the fact that they could not come to an agreement in terms of the trade agreement, and clearly that is weighing on markets. but although the last months and we can particular feels volatile and rocky, markets are still up double digits for most parts. as such, we have to put it in perspective. and for investors tojudge if put it in perspective. and for investors to judge if this is put it in perspective. and for investors tojudge if this is it, a good buying opportunity, we have to be mindful that the year—to—date has been a good situation for markets. that seems nuts! 6lobal markets

appear to be very complacent about some of the risks we have seen brewing. the first quarter was unbelievable for markets but they have got it wrong before. they called brexit, for example, wrong, they thought it would go the other way and we saw that massive crash in stirling. are we likely to see the same thing again? you're absolutely right to point out, particularly until the end of first quarter, it all felt very much 6oldilocks. 6lobal growth slowed a tad but nothing to worry about. we had signs ofan nothing to worry about. we had signs of an agreement between the us and china and, and probably the most important factor, we had the global major central banks being on hold and very supportive, so we don't fight the fed, but you're right, is ita fight the fed, but you're right, is it a likely scenario and what about the risks? the first tail risk seems to materialise which is that they will be in place not only for a lot longer but on a broader base than anticipated. that will have real impact on the global economy, hence

oui’ impact on the global economy, hence our whole idea of, yes, a bit of slowing but not too badly, that is questioned here. 0k, good to talk to, come back and talk about the papers with us in a few minutes. still to come... huawei's week has gone from bad to worse after 6oogle, panasonic and mobile chip maker arm all cut ties with the chinese tech firm. we'll take a look back on that, and some of the other business stories from the last five days with our economics correspondent andrew walker. you're with business live from bbc news. women in business were celebrated at an awards ceremony in london last night. and the big winner of the business woman of the year award wasjo whitfield, the cheif executive of co—op food. she's set up a network for women working in food retail called 6rocery girls and she joins us now.

thank you forjoining us and congratulations on your win. talk through your career because it has been very varied so far. what has brought you to where you are now?|j think brought you to where you are now?” think moving around, stretching myself, taking tough decisions about going out of my comfort zone. i spent a good amount of time training asa spent a good amount of time training as a chartered accountant, went into business straightaway and then moved around different industries and learned the ropes. i moved into operations, learn to strategy, and that set me up really well for the world i have today. we mentioned in the intro this women's network, 6rocery 6irls, aimed at helping businesswomen. what sort of help do businesswomen. what sort of help do businesswomen need, where art they are lacking and where are the strengths? the purpose of the network is to bring role models together to enable women to share honestly and openly their experiences, to encourage each other and share skills. i think that

network and that a support structure helps women build confidence, take chances on careers, and felt like they have the right to aspire and help them believe in themselves. and if you were talking to a woman or girl who was keen to get into business and into the world of business and into the world of business or even become an entrepreneur, what advice would you give them right now?” entrepreneur, what advice would you give them right now? i would say to stay true to you, believe in yourself and your ability. build yourself and your ability. build yourself and your ability. build yourself a network and be brave because you absolutely have the right to achieve the things you want to achieve. jo whitfield, thank you so to achieve. jo whitfield, thank you so much forjoining us and congratulations again on your award last night. thank you. a couple of stories to bring you, mother story desperate mothercare is not the boss says the chain on a firmerfinancial not the boss says the chain on a firmer financial footing. not the boss says the chain on a firmerfinancialfooting. it not the boss says the chain on a firmer financial footing. it has been focusing on its overseas stories and shops and the chain has

at its new focus on the uk will be on online instead. also, eight story, stagecoach is taking legal action against the department for transport. plenty more on that and the west coast partnership franchise on the website. you're watching business live. our top story... president trump is preparing to head to tokyo, while japanese firms are braced for the impact of the us trade war with china. a quick look at how the markets are faring. european markets are somewhat recovering after what was a very difficult day for trade, particularly across wall street. it looks like the ftse is up 3a points at the moment. its been a tough week for the chinese tech giant huawei, and boeing's embattled 737 max has been in the spotlight once again. joining us to talk about these stories is our economics correspondent, andrew walker.

shall we start with huawei? things seem shall we start with huawei? things seem to go from bad to worse. we had from the secretary of state that he was effectively accusing the chief executive of lying over the nature of his relationship with the chinese state. yes, and it has been, in particular in terms of the way in which western and japanese businesses are dealing with huawei, it has been a really bad week, adding to the company's woes. we have had the chip designer, arm, based in the uk but owned by japanese investors, saying that the bbc has seen internal documents telling staff not to deal with huawei and it is such an important element in the manufacture of their phones. that is a really serious problem for them. 6oogle said that they are going to restrict their

dealings with huawei for future models about mode and that might restrict peoples access to the 6oogle's app store. panasonic and toshiba are also looking at relationships. behind all this is the american concern about security aspects of letting huawei into western markets and the concern about the relationship with the chinese state. it is as bad as it could be! it is pretty bad but having said that, there is one little chink of light in that president trump suggested that any trade deal with china, if it eventually comes, could just bring in this very difficult relationship with huawei but it's not a very bright chink of light. let's talk about boeing, their 737 max involved in two fatal accidents. the faa, the regulator in the us, had a meeting with a lot of other international mobility is including the chinese, european ones, there's not a lot of consensus between the different

regulators about what to do or what could be done or will be done?m was really striking the head of the faa said two journalists, he rejected the proposition that they are at war with other regulators. he was saying it's not the case but the fa ct was saying it's not the case but the fact that he even had to talk in those terms to deny that suggestion is quite striking. what we had yesterday was the faa updating the other regulators on just where the investigation and bowing to's response to the disasters has got to. —— boeing. there is no timetable for the likely getting the aircraft back into the air. it is perfectly conceivable that it could be into the new year sometime. again, there was a little chink of light for

boeing in that the faa said there was no need currently for airlines to extend the cancellations they have already made but there is certainly no guarantee we will see the 737 max back in the air very soon. a quick one on the pound, investors pulling out investec asset management, aberdeen standard investments, all cutting sterling positions this week. very much on the sidelines, everyone is on the sidelines as everybody wonders what on earth is going on with britain's political situation. an underlying this is the concern that maybe the idea of a no—deal brexit is back on the table. a new prime minister, whoever that might be, assuming we are right that theresa may is about to announce a timetable for her departure, it does increase the chances of many possible candidates ofa chances of many possible candidates of a no—deal brexit which the markets think would be adverse for

the british economy. yes, sterling is already reflecting that increased possibility of that outcome. we are going to leave it there. thank you very much, andrew. now let's go to the us — where aviation regulators have defended their response to the two boeing 737 crashes, in which hundreds of people were killed. the federal aviation administration has been meeting with regulators from around the world to co—ordinate efforts to ensure the 737 max is safe. much of their attention has been focussed on fixes for the plane's software system — known as mcas. the head of the faa spoke to samira hussain. we're going to make sure that when the 737 max flies again, that the mcas the 737 max flies again, that the m cas syste m the 737 max flies again, that the mcas system and the inputs that make it activate are refined in a way that makes the aircraft as safe as possible. all we can do is look at the reports we have with great

detail, and those in term reports have established to us the link between the ethiopian and lion air accidents and the faa, with boeing and operators and the international community, that is why we are here today, we are examining that link, we will mitigate that link and then doa we will mitigate that link and then do a safety analysis to allow the 737 max would be fly again. the investigation will determine whether or not it was sufficient. we will find out the reasons for these terrible, horrific accidents, and i'm confident that, working together, we are going to fix it and the 737 max that will go on to be as the 737 max that will go on to be as the 737 max that will go on to be as the 737 varieties were before it, the 737 varieties were before it, the safest played in the sky. joining us again is sonja laud from legal & 6eneral investment management. wa nts to wants to with the bbc is covering is this facebook story about the plans to launch 6lobalcoin, a

cryptocurrency come in 2020. would you trust a cryptocurrency on facebook? i'm not sure but it is an interesting move but not necessarily very surprising if you think about quite a few of the large global tech companies. apple just launched a credit card in the last results season. it is not necessarily unusual, but in the context of the concerns around handling private data and the scandal that broke around it, it is interesting to see potentially the timing and idea that they want to provide a secure way of paying. we have asked people at home to get in touch and had lots of replies. dave says, not a fan of facebook but a huge believer in blockchain and crypto. i think this will help crypto mass adoption and think they should partner with crypto innovators. dan says, amazon wa nts to crypto innovators. dan says, amazon wants to land on the moon, facebook wa nts wants to land on the moon, facebook wants its own currency. these tech

companies are so wants its own currency. these tech companies are so big they are becoming their own countries. mary says, have lost all trust in facebook and its founder. when he puts the authorities first, before his followers, then we have a problem. ned says that with all its security breaches, how safe would this be question mark but this one says, it sounds great! we have a buyer! 6ive says, it sounds great! we have a buyer! give us a call! the key thing is about trust and facebook has lost that, among so many people out there come as is obviously from those responses. absolutely and you can see from the diverse nature of the responses that there is a lot of lingering concerns. you can see that the company has not been able to put that story behind them and i think there is a lot more that needs to be done before they can regain the trust of their users. and a story in the guardian and other papers about the guardian and other papers about the imf, another warning about global growth but this time pinpointing the china trade spat

with america and saying that this will have a real impact on global growth for everybody, notjust china and the us. i think that is the complexity around the story. you can start an estimate to, if those ta riffs start an estimate to, if those tariffs were to stay in place for a year, you can calculate the direct impact they would have, although there is a lot of unintended consequences and secondary effects that we probably don't know yet. but this is real economic growth that will be effected and negatively effected. and we have not even started but what is the role of europe and if trump will eventually reach out to europeans, the idea of ta riffs reach out to europeans, the idea of tariffs on european cars has been mentioned a couple of times. it is a global phenomenon and it will have a negative impact. good to have you on the programme. thank you very much. if you want to keep up—to—date with what is happening in westminster and everything that will be happening with theresa may, keep in touch on the website and more on bbc news. that's it from business live today.

more coming up on world business report as well. we will see you soon. we are going to see some slight changes in the weather as we go through the bank holiday weekend. this morning, largely dry and sunny, you can see the bright lights of the uk on the satellite imagery. in the atlantic, this mass of cloud is a weather system that will gradually moving. today, a bit more cloud in scotland, northern ireland, generally more in western areas of england and wales. there could be a few showers in south wales, the south west midlands and the west country. further east, staying dry with some sunshine and still quite warm in eastern and south—eastern areas with temperatures up to 22 degrees but in the far north of scotland, still a bit cooler at i! or 12 degrees. tonight, we lose the showers in the south. for most, dry

with varying amounts of cloud. this finger of rain stops to push into northern ireland. quite a mild night, temperatures no lower than a 7-12d. in night, temperatures no lower than a 7—i2d. in the weekend, the long weekend, some sunshine, rain mainly in the north and west, especially on sunday, and it will turn cooler into bank holiday monday. this is saturday, dry to start off with, plenty of sunny spells. then the cloud will increase in scotland, northern ireland, and rain will eventually move in. it will gradually spread into the far north—west of england as well. if few showers in the south—east, they could be heavy, but generally for england and wales, dry with sunny spells. even if the cloud increases, the temperatures are still into the low 20s. that weather system will continue to move south—eastwards on sunday. it will give them quite heavy rain in northern and western areas through the day and that will

gradually spread into the south—east but as it does, it will break into more showery rain. some sunshine on sunday, especially as the rain clears in northern england, wales and northern ireland. maximum temperatures are still in the low 20s in the south—east but more chilly in northern scotland, ten or 11 degrees. this is bank holiday monday, we have a mixture of bright and sunny spells and scattered showers moving through. many places will stay dry for much of the day, but it will be a bit chillier, temperatures only about nine celsius in aberdeen and in london the temperatures go from the low 20s into the high teens. that is all from me. 6oodbye.

you're watching bbc news at 9:00am with me, ben brown, in downing street — where the prime minister is expected to make an announcement this morning about her future. our headlines... heading for a brexit exit — speculation grows that theresa may will announce a date for her resignation today, after a backlash by her own mps against her latest brexit plan. it's thought in the next few minutes you will meet the head of her pa rty‘s you will meet the head of her party's backbench you will meet the head of her pa rty‘s backbench mps you will meet the head of her party's backbench mps to discuss her exit plans. the 10th june is widely expected to be the start of the leadership contest. borisjohnson, esther mcvey and rory stewart have all already announced they will run,

but senior conservatives