this is the business briefing. i'm sally bundock. the first phase: us and chinese officials are set to sign the initial part of a significant trade deal. we'll find out what impact it'll have around the globe. amazon'sjeff bezos arrives in india for a 3—day visit. but is he being greeted with open arms? and asian financial markets are seeing their first declines for five days with concerns us—china trade tensions will go beyond today's signing of an initial deal in washington.

let's discuss in more detail now that significant step that is being taken in washington. president trump and the chinese vice premier will sit down and sign a trade deal that could signal the beginning of the end of their bruising battle over the price of everything from soybeans to iphones. since the start of the trade war, the two sides have raised import taxes on $470 billion worth of each other‘s goods, more than half of what they buy and sell from each other every year. while us and chinese consumers have borne the brunt of this, the two countries account for more than 40% of the world's economy and there's no doubt the trade war has hurt global growth. the so—called ‘phase one deal‘ is expected to include a commitment by china to spend an extra $200 billion on american made goods,

while the us will roll back some tariffs. however, under the deal tariffs, worth billions of dollars, will remain in place. here's us treasury secretary steven mnuchin. these tariffs will stay in place until there is a phase two. if the president gets a phase too quickly, he will consider releasing tariffs as part of phase two. if not, there will not be any tariff relief. let's get more on this story from anahita thoms, head of international trade practice at baker mckenzie, who joins me from brussels. welcome to business briefing. how optimistic are you about this phase one deal being done? it certainly means deescalation, it is a truce, but it is not a comprehensive deal. but certainly a step in the right direction because it means that two of the biggest players will sit down and strike a deal, even if it is

just phase one. when you look at the detail we know about in terms of the compromises made to get to this point, it looks like china is getting a lot more than the us. —— giving. certainly, both countries are not entirely happy with this. also, the us, because the us wanted to have comprehensive struck your reforms and phase one is certainly not that. and china, china wanted certainly to have no tariffs at all, so certainly to have no tariffs at all, so both sides think this is a compromise and certainly, phase two and maybe phase three and four will have to follow. and talk us through the winners and losers. for example, ina the winners and losers. for example, in a moment we will hear from american business owners who have really lost out. but some countries like vietnam and others have benefited, haven't they? trade wars produce losers. certainly, the us has lost because of higher costs for

its consumers. china has lost because of lost trade. some have benefited, certainly you mentioned vietnam is one country that has benefited, but these are short—term benefits and we have to see mid term what happens. certainly, long—term, we will all lose because of have indicated, global growth is implicated when two of the biggest countries have a trade war ongoing for almost two years. do you think this trade war was necessary? you think that we have a fairer playing field between the us and china now? for now, phase one doesn't strike a deal ina for now, phase one doesn't strike a deal in a comprehensive way. the goal was in the beginning, you are

talking about forced technology transfer, but most importantly, regarding market access and subsidies. so when you speak about a comprehensive deal, we are not there yet. already, before president trump, people have tried to reach a compromise, but we are definitely not there yet. all right. a long way to go. thank you very much indeed. now, today is the beginning of the end of president trump's trade war, some say. samira hussain spoke to some us companies that have been affected. relief cannot come soon enough at the sawmill. when china slapped ta riffs the sawmill. when china slapped tariffs on us wood, retaliation against american tariffs on chinese goods, business he had dropped a0%. this plant alone let go of 15 people stop it now only runs one shift per

day. 66 employees here. this is their lives, this is our lives. we come to work every day to make a great product to put out there, and if we can't sell our product, we won't be able to make our product. north—west hardwoods, which operates the mill, has had to close operations in several states. the ceo says if the trade war does not end soon, it could be the end of the american timber industry. jobs that are being severely impacted are those rural communities that have been built around these sawmills a decade that will continue to feel the brunt of the impact of a lack of trade with china. it wasn't meant to be like this. donald trump's pitch to the working men and women of states like pennsylvania if he imposed tariffs on imports from china, theirjobs would be protected. they and their employers

would thrive. ijust announced it will increase tariffs in china, and we won't back down until china stops cheating our workers and stealing their jobs, cheating our workers and stealing theirjobs, and cheating our workers and stealing their jobs, and that cheating our workers and stealing theirjobs, and that is what is going to happen. 0therwise theirjobs, and that is what is going to happen. otherwise we don't have to do business with them, we don't have to do business. we can make the product right here if we have to, like we used to. despite two years of tit—for—tat tariffs, the us economy keeps growing, the unemployment rate is at record lows in financial markets have been eating all time highs. 0ther in financial markets have been eating all time highs. other trade war has damaged many industries, particularly in manufacturing and agriculture where so many of trump's supporters work. finally, presidents have to at least a truce, which should be good news for companies like hardwood. but executives and workers across america may be left wondering if the end of the trade war was with fighting it in the first place —— northwest hardwood. now, let's brief you on some

other business stories. the american planemaker boeing has revealed that 2019 was its worst year for orders in decades. and plane deliveries in 2019 hit their lowest level in 11 years. the drop in fortunes is of course attributed to the 737 max, which has been grounded after two fatal crashes. citigroup beat analysts' estimates for fourth—quarter profits, boosted by growth in its credit card business and a jump in trading revenue. the third—largest us bank by assets has been leveraging its robust card business to help grow deposits by pitching, checking and savings accounts to card holders. the e—commerce giant amazon says it's bringing back fedex for deliveries of some of its prime orders sold through third parties. it banned the freight service during the holiday period amid concerns over its performance. the national security agency, the nsa, has discovered a vulnerability in microsoft's windows operating system that provides a backdoor for hackers.

both the nsa and microsoft say they had no evidence that the flaw had previously been abused. this is the first time the nsa has publicly taken credit for finding a security flaw, prompting a software update. let's now tell you more. amazon founderjeff bezos arrived in india as thousands of small traders across 300 cities planned protests, claiming the firm is distorting the local retail market. arunoday mukharji has more from delhi. jeff bezos landed here in india on tuesday and one of the first steps —— stops he made was a memorial to pay his respects. amazon have been fairly tightlipped about the programme ofjeff bezos, we know he will be attending this event today as well as tomorrow. he is expected

to be speaking here. his visit comes ina to be speaking here. his visit comes in a difficult time for amazon when the competition commission of india has launched an investigation into the steep discounts as well as exclusive offers on mobile phones at amazon has had to offer. there have been complaints by local retailers that affect local businesses. even as we speak, a big trading association has called for protests across the country. they will be protecting between 1130 and 1230 against discounts affecting their own businesses. writer is expected to meet the prime minister to discuss various issues of his trip. that's it for the business briefing this hour.

now, let's bring you more detail on the story that is our talking point today. england's smallest county, rutland, boasts two historic towns, a large lake and a population of 38,000 people. but there's one thing it doesn't have, and that's a branch of mcdonald's. it's the only county in england not to have a branch of the fast—food chain. but that could soon change. councillors will be meeting shortly to consider allowing a drive—thru outlet asjohn maguire reports. this is rutland, england's smallest cou nty this is rutland, england's smallest county and the only one where chicken nuggets are not on the menu. charlie blogged with pride about the cou nty of charlie blogged with pride about the county of her birth and is very protective of its status. our county is the last one in england without one, andi is the last one in england without one, and i think that is really special and it is just a great point about our really quirky county, our high streets are scattered with wonderful independence that offer something unique and there really is

something unique and there really is so me local businesses you can go into and get a real special service ata into and get a real special service at a special experience, i think we don't need a mcdonald's and i think that the fact that mcdonald's is everywhere in the world, i think it is really unique the fact that we don't have one here and i would kind of like to keep that for our special little county. but rutland is a claim to fame that is under threat. tonight, counsellors are recommended to grant planning permission for a 24—hour drive—through at this site just outside 0akham. mcdonald's is promising more than 60 jobs, much—needed here. if counsellors give the go—ahead tonight, the last bastion of resistance in england will fall and 0akham will host one of the mcflurry which mcdonald plans to open. —— mcdonald's plans to

open. they did approve the move to have a mcdonald's in rutland last night. this is the briefing from bbc news. the latest headlines: the remaining contenders to take on donald trump have clashed in the final debate before the selection process begins. iran has condemned britain, france and germany for triggering a dispute over tehran‘s violations of the nuclear deal. schoolchildren had to be treated after a plane dumped fuel over los angeles before making an emergency landing. now, it's time to look at the stories that are making the headlines in the media across the world. we begin with japan times and its headline "china not a currency cheat." a us declaration, it says, necessary for the two countries to clear a path to sign a trade deal and overcome their battles over ta riffs.

singapore's strait times says lifting the stigma of being lablled a currency manipulator was key to ending the stand—off between beijing and washington. on our us news feed, we're reporting on president trump's latest attack on apple. it comes as the company refuses to unlock the phone of a shooter who carried out an attack on a us base. the financial times looks into the rescue package offered by the government to save flybe after a £100 million investment plan failed. and as we have just said, a rutland drive—through has been a proof of mcdonald's. it is the one county in england that is yet to have the golden arches. and finally, the daily expressjoins the prime minister's plea for crowd funders to finance the cost of ensuring big ben bongs for brexit. with me isjeremy thomson cook founder of complete currency consulting.

and you are the perfect gas for this morning because it is all about the currency for many new paper is today. japan times has it on its front page. the straits times as well. what do you make of their coverage because they're sort of talking a lot about the fact that this is all about politics. it has nothing to do with technicalities and yet, this is a semi—annual report to congress which is supposed to bea report to congress which is supposed to be a technical report of our currencies. it is as you say, every six months we see the us way in on what they believe certain countries are doing with our currencies and for the first five reports of the trump administration, they didn't label china as a currency manipulator. and yet he said he would do it on day one in office. that was one of his pre—election promises. that is right. he said it was the first thing he would do but it took him over two years to do so and only really happen in august last year after we