this is business briefing. i'm sally bundock. mind the gap! are trump's global trade wars narrowing america's deficit with the rest of the world? the shoe that doesn't fit — how a small flag on the back of a trainer helped nike lose a million dollar grant from the state of arizona. and on the financial markets a mixed picture again in asia today, as investors look ahead to a lot of economic data coming out the us to help them guess what it's central bank will do next.

the us will reveal its latest trade numbers today, as its spat with china rumbles on. president trump has made reducing america's deficit a key priority. in april, the deficit narrowed to just under $51 billion. but it wasn't just imports which fell — american exports dropped dramatically — the biggest fall in three years. some countries have benefited from the trade war. mexico, the eu, and canada have all seen their exports to the us rise substantially this year — as trading patterns have shifted. but economists warn that rising tariffs will be bad for the world economy. the imf has lowered its forecast for global growth to 3.3% — citing trade tensions as a key reason. ross denton, trade partner at baker mckenziejoins me now.

good morning. so the trade figures will be out in the us later. what will be out in the us later. what will it tell us, do you think, about the trade relationship between us and countries? there is enormous amount of uncertainty in the global economy at the moment. as you have already said, the way in which trade works generally is shifting. relationships between the us and china are moving, breaking apart and going to other countries, so we have seen going to other countries, so we have seen a going to other countries, so we have seen a loss of what we call trade distortion, where people are breaking supply chains related to china are moving them to other places to avoid or try to get round the us tariffs on chinese imports. do we think this is a good thing or a bad thing? i think is universally seen as a bad thing? i think is universally seen as being a bad thing. you have to go back to the basics, where ta riffs to go back to the basics, where tariffs were effectively taxes on imports. someone has to pay those taxes on imports. they do drive a lot of this sort of trade distorting

behaviour. there is a lot of directly unproductive activity going on at the moment and companies trying to figure out how to deal with these tariffs, where they should actually be out there building supply chains that are robust and long lasting. in terms of president trump's mandate. when he came into office he said reducing the trade deficit, which he found unfair, make america great again, that was his big selling point, as it were, will he be able to say he has delivered? on the trade of that overall identity will be able to say so. overall identity will be able to say so. the us is a very strong economy and it likes buying things, it will be buying them from around the world. the only good thing they have got is the us is importing less oil so got is the us is importing less oil so that part of the deficit will shrink. but you are seeing lots and lots of imports into the usa not from china. so he can maybe make the argument that he is winning on china, but, of course, that is not really at the gift of the ccp was of their company saying we want to leave china to get around the ta riffs stop

leave china to get around the tariffs stop so it is business as making the decision angina, not necessarily ccp. ccp being? the chinese communist party. ok. in terms of what is going on within the united states it is interesting, in some states round the some manufacturers are thinking about the shift in the future seeing opportunities, thinking about starting to make stuff again in america. they see this as the moment. yes. it is definitely the case that people are looking to bring or take manufacturing out of china put it somewhere else. whether the us is necessarily the best answer, you will be looking at countries like india, vietnam, although sorts of other places where they have a comparative advantage against the us generally and also against the us generally and also against china. they may make those investments in the short—term, but who knows with what will happen with a straight. it could be back to status quo. thank you very much. have you in the programme. one of america's most iconic companies, the sportswear giant

nike, has become embroiled in a political row over a pair of trainers. the company has withdrawn these trainers — the air max i quick strike fourth ofjuly, because they feature an early version of the american flag which has in the past been associated with the far right and slavery. michelle fleury has more from new york. this is the flag that, according to american history, was designed by betsy ross. it represents the 13 original colonies through whites does against a blue backdrop and the familiar red and white stripes. it is one of the early versions of the american flag, named after a philadelphia seamstress. but the problem is, in recent years, it has been embraced by white nationalists and the american nazi party. and this was apparently pointed out to nikkei, we have learned, by the nfl star colin kaepernick who said it was an offensive symbol to many and we learned that nike decided to pull

the shoe as a result —— ross denton. it has angered conservatives is a design un—american. the most notable response was the arizona governor, who want to put on tuesday morning announced he had ordered the arizona commerce authority, which is part of an economic development agency there, withdraw incentives that the state had offered nike to build a plant in goodyear, arizona. on 20 he said that it was supposed to be a good day in arizona with the announcement of this investment. he said words express his disappointment, that nike has made its decision and now we are making hours. this obviously comes after this date was providing these incentives for the company to locate there. the deal was only announced on monday according to city records. it was expected to bring about 500 full—timejobs to it was expected to bring about 500 full—time jobs to the area outside of phoenix. but, of course, now all of phoenix. but, of course, now all of that seem to have been thrown in

doubt. it absolutely does. that is michelle, part of the team in new york. now let's brief you on some other business stories. international monetary fund chief christine lagarde has been nominated to become the new president of the european central bank. if appointed she will become the first woman to head the eurozone's monetary policy maker. ms lagarde has temporarily stepped down from her role at the imf, with her deputy david lipton standing in as acting managing director. shares of tesla soared 7.5% in after hours trade, after the electric car maker blew away wall street's expectations for deliveries. tesla delivered 95,200 vehicles in the second quarter, an all time record number and a 51% increase on the first quarter. a giant of the us car industry has left us. lee iacocca, the charismatic executive who gave america the ford mustang and was celebrated for saving chryslerfrom going out of business, has died at the age of 94. he also led the campaign to restore the statue of liberty and ellis island.

at the start of his first term in office, prime minister narendra modi was applauded by entrepreneurs for his flagship sta rt—up india initiative. but with the country's economy slowing, entrepreneurs are hoping for fresh funds from this week's budget. joe miller reports from hyderabad. a blossoming business catering to evolving indian tastebuds, started in a garage just three years ago. boutique brand popicorn has cashed in on a new generation of health—conscious and affluent consumers. it's brainchild of serial entrepreneur, prasha nth gowriraju, who is having to raise more money to support the company's rapid expansion. today we have almost 150 plus people, we are a 25,000 square feet facility, and we are in 1a cities across the country, and we pop about 150 tons

of corn every month. when we started off, it was great outcome for us to raise capital in a cheaper way. popicorn is not the only startup lining up for low interest loans from india's government, which are likely to be funded in this week's budget. approximately 100 new businesses are formed in the country each day and they are expecting new delhi to ease the path to their prosperity. here in cyberabad or hyderabad tec city, start—ups have a similar wishlist to businesses everywhere. they want less regulation, fewer tedious and time—consuming compliance forms and easier access to funding, but what they will be really worried about is this slowdown in india's economic growth and tentative signs that the country's burgeoning middle—class are beginning to spend much less. winding down after a day at work, the young talent employed at local firms say they too could do with a leg up. i feel i'm not heard. give us a boost up, give encouragement for the new thoughts and ideas. because of petrol, everything increases —

the food increases, everything — transport — because everything depends on the petrol. a common person cannot live in the city. even for rent, even if you want to purchase something, it is a very difficult for a common person. prime minister narendra modi's administration is racing to meet its target of 50,000 new startups, over the next five years, but redtape is driving many small businesses to migrate to more hospitable economies, like singapore, and india's government will have to work hard to prevent its best and brightest from taking flight. joe miller, bbc news, hyderabad. looking at markets really quickly. asa looking at markets really quickly. as a medicine, asia is mixed. today in the us the markets on wall street we re in the us the markets on wall street were shut at one o'clock local time. and closed all day tomorrow for the independence day break. people today will be positioning themselves ahead ofa will be positioning themselves ahead of a closure on wall street. so that is your business briefing. stay with us. is your business briefing. stay with us. i will be back with that global

news media stories of the day. —— with the global news media stories of the day. nina willjoin me in a moment for the news briefing. but 1st: the government has been criticised for unfairly raising families' hopes over access to medicinal cannabis, despite approving it's use last year. the drug was given the green light for prescription in november but a report by mps found it still isn't readily available. our correspondent lauren moss reports. ben griffiths is ten years old and has cerebral palsy. untiljust a couple of months ago he was having more than 100 epileptic seizures every day. now they have dramatically reduced after a doctor issued a private prescription for medical cannabis oil. but it costs

£2000 a month to import from holland and ben's mother says she feels let down by the system. i'm disappointed because it's a lost opportunity for them to help us as a family and many otherfamilies them to help us as a family and many other families that are taking this and it is helping our children right now and we can't sustain paying the vast amounts of money that we are privately in the uk to keep our children on these medications. i'm a cheeky monkey. last yearjoe and other parents, including the mother of alfie, who also has epilepsy, handed a petition into downing street which fronted the government to change the law and allow medical cannabis to be legally prescribed in certain circumstances. but enquiry has found that it is still too difficult to get hold of and there are major gaps in research, which means that many products are unlicensed. the committee is calling for clinical trials to take place as a matter of urgency and for medicine not to be confiscated from families

to get it abroad. the department of health is that he will consider any further action take to improve access to cannabis based products for medicinal use. but for desperate pa rents for medicinal use. but for desperate parents like joe for medicinal use. but for desperate parents likejoe it offers little immediate help to them or their children who need support now. you are with the briefing on bbc news. the latest headlines: eu leaders have nominated germany's defence minister, to head the european commission; and the imf chief to run the european central bank — the first women in these jobs. an investigation by us government inspectors has warned of dangerous overcrowding at immigration detention centres in texas near the southern border. now it's time to look at the stories that are making the headlines in the media across the world. we begin with the financial times. it picks out the backing of christine lagarde for the european central bank as the eu hands out its most importantjobs.

the guardian reports that parents are discouraging their children from learning foreign languages, saying it won't be necessary after brexit. the bbc news website and app has more on the nike racism row, saying the company's now lost funding for having backed down to its critics. vice news pulls together an investigation carried out by various media outlets which found people crossing the border into china are having malware installed on their phones by customs officials. and, finally, an amazing study in the i paper. it shows how team games can be played by telepathy. so let's begin with brexit and what some of the british papaer are calling a constitutional crisis. with me is nina trentmann,

from the wall streetjournal. no, let's talk about the new rules within the european commission. the ft refers to a three—day gruelling summit where they tried to whittle down who they believe should have these key roles. it has highlighted christine and ursula. was not an easy task to these final names, was it. it was far from easy and we saw on monday in a few days before that there was what agreement amongst eu leaders on who they would want to nominate even in the end the eu is not in an easy state at the moment given there is disagreement about whether union should go. it was expected that this would not be an easy. interestingly we have seen this movement from the eu parliament to nominate their own candidate, which eu leaders