this is the business briefing. i'm sally bundock. taxing the tech giants — france's parliament set to approve a levy on the likes of google and facebook, risking new trade tensions with the us. plus: "we will act as appropriate" the head of the us federal reserve raises hopes for an interest rate cut as early as this month — the first in a decade. and on the markets... fed chairman powell's comments boost global stock markets and hit the dollar.

we start in france, where a pioneering tax on tech firms is expected to be approved by the senate today, after clearing the lower house last week. it comes amid public anger across the continent at tax avoidance by the likes of google, amazon and facebook, who locate their eu headquarters in low—tax countries and pay virtually nothing elsewhere. but it has already threatened to spark new trade tensions, with the trump administration launching an investigation to see whether the move unfairly targets us firms. the plan, masterminded by french finance minister bruno de maire, is for a 3% digital services tax on all revenues rather than profits made in france. it will hit all companies with global revenues of more than $843 million. around 30 tech companies are likely to be affected,

mostly from the us. the french finance ministry estimates that the tax will raise more than $500 million this year, with that figure rising in future years. france failed to persuade eu partners to impose a europe—wide tax in the face of opposition from low—tax countries, such as ireland, where many big tech firms have their eu bases. it's now pushing for an international deal with the 3a countries of the organisation for economic cooperation and development. earlier this year, facebook‘s public affairs chief, nick clegg, spoke to our media editor amol rajan. he accepted the internet giants should be paying more tax. is it right that facebook pays so little tax in the uk? i think for the digital sector as a whole it is unsustainable. 0f

the digital sector as a whole it is unsustainable. of course it is unbalanced that an american company, kettering to the world, yet paint the majority of tax only in i country, ijurisdiction the majority of tax only in i country, i jurisdiction and the majority of tax only in i country, ijurisdiction and that is what needs to change not only in my view but anyone who has looked at the digital economy. it is not being properly taxed by government. russ shaw is founder of tech london advocates, a lobby group for technology bosses and entrepreneurs. what do you make of this move in front? lst of all the tech giants, multinationals front? 1st of all the tech giants, multinationals must pay their fair share of tax however the way the french government is going about it is misguided. putting a tax on reve nu es is misguided. putting a tax on revenues i think is confusing and risks double taxation. they have said they will use this tax for paying for a budget shortfall whereas i would hope that we use it

to retrain workers on the digital skills. they are sending a very negative message to the overall tech community. they are planning to raise over 500,000,000 from tax yet in 2018 over e4,000,000,000 was invested in french start—ups. they have to look at the numbers and say are they sending a very negative message by deploying this tax on their own, not with the eu not with their own, not with the eu not with the g20. their own, not with the eu not with the 620. many would say taxing revenue is possibly the right move because clever accounting, the way you do your books, et cetera, means you do your books, et cetera, means you can really reduce your profits significantly to avoid paying tax and also fronts perhaps felt they had to make a move because it has been taking years and years to come up been taking years and years to come up with an international taxation system that everyone can agree on. yes, with respect to the tax revenue, the chancellor of the uk said the uk would do something similar but would put the tax on

reve nu es of similar but would put the tax on revenues of the business not the sales and activities so if am sitting in france, what is confusing is do sitting in france, what is confusing isdoi sitting in france, what is confusing is do i pay tax on what is viewed, clicked or purchased and that is very difficult to ascertain. 0n clicked or purchased and that is very difficult to ascertain. on top of that, if i am paying a tax on revenue and on my profit, do i risk double taxation? what do you think might happen in terms of a trade spat between europe and the us?|j think there is a risk of that happening. the trump administration has moved in other areas thatjust look at huawei and you know they are serious about it. secretary management last month did indicate that they would work with their energy 20 to come up with some type of reform to come into effect by 2020 and that is a first signal i have seen to make that happen. thank you for being here. it is a story we

will unpack further. let's turn to us interest rates now. they could be heading lower very soon, after a strong hint from the chairman of the federal reserve. jerome powell was speaking in the first of two days of testimony to the us congress about the health of the us economy. his message: while inflation remains low and global trade disputes continue, the fed is poised to cut rates if necessary. from new york samira hussain has more. all fed shares have a difficult balancing act. they need to keep inflation low and everyone in work and they also need to keep the markets come while being able to change their mind when the economy changes cause. —— calm. but in the face of constant criticism from president trump, halep must keep doing what the us economy once while never being sent to fall to

presidential pressure. it is a tight rope. the politics. he was asked what he would do if the president tried to have him fired. if you get a call from the president today or tomorrow and he said, i am firing you, pack up, it is time to go. what would you do? of course, i would not do that. i can't hear you! laughter my answer would be, no. you would not pack up and you would not leave stop no, man. but president trump may have been modified by the rest of his appearance because in his comments on the economy mr powell seemed to suggest the fed is getting ready to cut rates, exactly what mr trump has been urging. the power told congress the job market could not be called hot, likely sign that

prices will not be rising sharply $0011. prices will not be rising sharply soon. markets rose on his appearance. they evidently think a rate cut is coming soon. so could other central banks be lining up interest rate cuts? it's a question our asia business team has been looking at. rico hizon is following the story. nice to see you, rico. central—bank action once again? and from the looks of it we could see rate cut sooner looks of it we could see rate cut sooner rather than later, sally, because several central banks have made moves this year, from india, australia and the philippines, amidst low inflation rates and slower economic growth. we spoke to fred newman and he believes they could be more monetary listening from key economies in north and south—east asia right after the fed cuts the cost of borrowing. korea is

one economy that is very trade dependent and therefore may cut this rates. you have thailand also very export dependent ready to cut rates in indonesia could now move them lower as well. in addition, the could be more easing from other countries. we could see at least a pa rt countries. we could see at least a part of a percent of a half a percent rate cut from many regional central banks soon. all right, we should watch this space. let's talk brexit now, because the billionaire boss of the virgin group, sir richard branson, has told the bbc that leaving the eu without a deal would cause the pound to plummet, forcing his businesses to shift investment out of the uk. he described the impact of a no—deal scenario as "devastating" for his businesses. the pound would collapse with parity with the dollar if there is a hard

brexit. all our costs are in dollars. maintenance, plain costs. 100 million a year the bottom line head. a hard brexit will result in the freight from europe that we put on virgin atlantic to go to america just disappearing. that would be another $100 million just down the drain. richard branson. now let's brief you on some other business stories: brazil's lower house of congress has overwhelmingly approved a bill to overhaul the country's pension system, introducing a minimum retirement age and increasing workers' contributions. it's a key policy for president bolsonaro, who has warned the pension system could bankrupt the country if it's not reformed. the bill now faces a second round vote before moving on to the senate. dust from car brakes and tyres will still pollute city air even when the vehicle fleet has gone all—electric, uk government advisers have warned. the air quality expert group says particles from brake, tyre and road wear make up well over half of particle pollution

from road transport. environmental campaigners say more should be done to stop people using private cars. that's it for the business briefing this hour. labour has strongly rejected claims that the party is anti—semitic. it's after whistleblowers told a bbc panorama investigation, aired last night, that some ofjeremy corbyn's top team tried to interfere in disciplinary processes involving allegations of anti—semitism. jessica parker reports. e—mails linked to panorama suggest

the general secretary attempted to interfere in the selection of a disciplinary panel and later she deleted her correspondence on the official account. it also shows jeremy corbyn's personal e—mail was copied in. labour said jeremy corbyn's personal e—mail was copied in. laboursaid she temporarily stopped using her party e—mail because concerns political opponents had access to it. it was assuring the panel was held accountable for the length of time they take to hear cases. the man in charge at party hq for years is ian mcnicol. the e-mails you showed me a really important. the issues raised within them should ring alarm bells across the party. panorama spoke to seven former officials from labours dispute team. i felt that i had tried as hard as i possibly could to do my bit to fight this, this sickness. and to me it is getting worse. i felt a bit complacent in

the labour party not dealing with anti—semitism properly. the labour party not dealing with anti-semitism properly. labour has said former staff making claims are disaffected and the party insists it is implacably opposed to anti—semitism. is implacably opposed to anti-semitism. we will do all we can to make it very clear to anybody who thinks that they can have those abhorrent views in our party and in ourfamily that abhorrent views in our party and in our family that they are not welcome. there has already been considerable pressure on jeremy corbyn around allegations of anti—semitism in the past. now signed that pressure could only increase further. this is the briefing from bbc news. the latest headlines: a british warship is reported to have chased away five armed iranian speedboats that were attempting to detain a british oil tanker in the strait of hormuz. oil tanker in the strait of hormuz. iran has been threatening

to retaliate for the seizure of one of its tankers near gibraltar last week. the german chancellor angela merkel has again played down concerns about her health after she was seen shaking at a public event for the third time in three weeks. she said she is fine and quite capable of doing herjob. a study of 100,000 people in france has found that those who consume sugary drinks, including fruitjuice, are more likely to get cancer. they were not able to establish a direct causal link. now it's time to look at the stories that are making the headlines in the media across the world. we begin with the free paper, the metro. critics of borisjohnson accuse him of throwing the us ambassador, sir kim, "under the bus", by failing to offer his backing to the diplomat, which led to his resignation yesterday. on to the ft and ‘powell power‘. that's jay powell, of course, the chairman of the federal reserve who fuelled market expectations

of a us interest rate cut this month. now to the new york times and donald trump has ordered an investigation into whether a french plan to impose a 3% tax on tech companies amounts to an unfair trade practice. the front page of the daily mail reports on a study that finds fruitjuice and fizzy drinks significantly raise the risk of cancer. the bbc website reports that the area surrounging chernobyl is to be turned into a tourist site. but would you want to holiday on the site of the world's worst nuclear accident? with me is the founder of complete currency consulting,