ringing in a new era — president elect donald trump opens the us stock market. india is considering imposing a temporary tax on imported steel, to counter cheap chinese import. and time for a drink? we talk to the man who built a hospitality empire without any previous experience in the trade. hello there. live from london, this is business today. i'm lukwesa burak. and we start here in the uk because this weekend britain will join the comprehensive and progressive agreement for trans—pacific partnership — or cptpp for short. quite a mouthful. this means it will be able to trade, tariff—free, with japan, singapore, chile, new zealand, vietnam, peru, malaysia and brunei. later in this month australia

will also be added to the list. canada and mexico are yet to ratify the agreement — so they may be added later. but what does this really mean and will it provide a boost to uk trade? joining me now is marco forgione, director general of the chartered institute of export & international trade. hello, marco. first off, this trade block, how effective has it performed? what performance has it given? it it performed? what performance has it given?— has it given? it is a hugely important _ has it given? it is a hugely important it _ has it given? it is a hugely important it is _ has it given? it is a hugely important it is a _ has it given? it is a hugely important it is a market i has it given? it is a hugely important it is a market of about 500 million people, about 13% of global gdp and in the coming years will represent about 50%, half of the world's middle—class. so it is really important, a very important and dynamic group of economies. what would be wedded to uk? many people are asking will

compensate for the brexit bosses that the uk has had? to make it is very different to the impact that brexit had. initial assessments were that it is .08% of uk gdp. but that doesn't really take into consideration the impact of actually being part of this rapidly growing dynamic environment and also the fact that a lot of other economies are now looking to join cptpp as a direct result of uk exceeding. i think moving forward this is going to be a hugely important trading community for the united kingdom scope particularly because of the very specific access of the agreement divided for the uk — excellent, world leading services. 80% of the uk is services and the cptpp

agreement has innovative approaches to digital trade, e—commerce, and goods and services. in the medium to longer term, we will be much, much greater than was perceived to the assessment at the moment. but in comparison to the eu, obviously it is nowhere near that. you have described various factors there. first off, the nature, the e], for example. in many of those countries and the block are asian. they are asian markets. fast—growing markets. is the uk set up to really make most of this? i set up to really make most of this? ~' �* , ., ., this? i think there's a lot that needs _ this? i think there's a lot that needs to _ this? i think there's a lot that needs to done - this? i think there's a lot that needs to done to . this? i think there's a lot i that needs to done to help this? i think there's a lot - that needs to done to help uk businesses understand how they can access the market, how they can access the market, how they can trade into cptpp. and i know the government is doing a lot through the department of business and trade to support businesses, as is the chartered institute, to explain how they can trade into the cptpp

nations, and particularly because the agreement gives access to government contracts and infrastructure projects, so uk architects, engineers, designers, have access to, as you said, the rapidly growing economies.— you said, the rapidly growing economies. ~ �* ., ., , economies. mark o'connor very cuickl , economies. mark o'connor very quickly. you _ economies. mark o'connor very quickly. you are _ economies. mark o'connor very quickly, you are saying - economies. mark o'connor very quickly, you are saying that - quickly, you are saying that the british government will help businesses. so they are ratifying it, they have entered on the 15th they will enter into the block. are you saying that businesses haven't been given guidance up until now? no, there has been a lot of work done to promote cptpp, but there is always a huge amount more that needs to be done. the chartered institute ran a webinar last month specifically about cptpp and about 50% of the businesses that attended said that they were unclear as to what they can do to trade into cptpp. so we have to do a

lot more to engage uk businesses and really explain the huge opportunities that exist for goods and services in this dynamic, rapidly growing community of nations. fik. this dynamic, rapidly growing community of nations. 0k. marco foruione, community of nations. 0k. marco forgione, thank _ community of nations. 0k. marco forgione, thank you _ community of nations. 0k. marco forgione, thank you very - community of nations. 0k. marco forgione, thank you very much i forgione, thank you very much indeed. donald trump rang the opening bell at the new york stock exchange on thursday. the appearance coincided with the president—elect being named time magazine's person of the year for a second time. he appeared alongside his daughters ivanka and tiffany, wife melania, and vice president—electjd vance. the bbc�*s michelle fleury the bbc�*s michelle fleury has more from ny. has more from ny. this was trumped territory. the this was trumped territory. the business man turned politician business man turned politician received a welcome return at received a welcome return at the new york stock exchange. —— the new york stock exchange. —— trump territory. ahead of the trump territory. ahead of the bell ringing he touted economic bell ringing he touted economic goals, including lowering goals, including lowering

energy prices and slaying energy prices and slaying inflation. and we have one product that no—one really has to the extent that we do, and it is called oil and gas. there is no country in the world that has more. we have number one. i boarded to number one in my first term in terms of production. we will be number one plus. we will do numbers that no—one will have seen before. when that happens, prices will come down because people can't afford the groceries and they are going to be avoiding the groceries very soon. . , be avoiding the groceries very soon. ., , .,, be avoiding the groceries very soon. ., , ., soon. donald trump was named time's person — soon. donald trump was named time's person of— soon. donald trump was named time's person of the _ soon. donald trump was named time's person of the year. - soon. donald trump was named time's person of the year. his l time's person of the year. his making plans of inauguration, including inviting charities president xijinping to including inviting charities president xi jinping to attend the ceremony. i president xi jinping to attend the ceremony.— the ceremony. i was thinking about inviting _ the ceremony. i was thinking about inviting certain - the ceremony. i was thinking about inviting certain people | about inviting certain people to the integration and people tell me it was risky, as it it is, we will see.— is, we will see. the president-elect - is, we will see. the j president-elect has is, we will see. the - president-elect has always is, we will see. the president—elect has always been keen to celebrate a rising stock market. but in a reminder just how unpredictable financial markets can be, they ended thursday's session in the

red, with the nasdaq retreating from wednesday's record high. michelle fleury there. let's stay with this and talk about the trump rally. we have heard about this since the election. because the markets have been going up since he won the election stopped last night he took a breather. here are the numbers. on wall street, stocks closed lower as some investors booked profits

another leg up since. there are reasons for that. there has been calling in inflation, and lowering interest rates. a lot of enthusiasm for technology stocks. then you have trump winning with his taxcutting, deregulation plans, and that has been adding to the excitement people have been looking for from the american market. fin looking for from the american market. , ., . looking for from the american market. , .. ,., , market. on the surface it bodes well, but is _ market. on the surface it bodes well, but is it — market. on the surface it bodes well, but is it sustainable? - well, but is it sustainable? how long will it last? i knew that, lukwesa, _ how long will it last? i knew that, lukwesa, i— how long will it last? i knew that, lukwesa, i promise. how long will it last? i knew that, lukwesa, i promise i. how long will it last? i knew l that, lukwesa, i promise i will tell you. but what i would say is that you are seeing record high valuations, profits already at record highs, and a lot of risk—taking in the market through the use of borrowing to fund stock positions or options and derivatives. those are the things that really do need — you need to proceed with more caution than investors are doing. stock markets are most dangerous when money looks his

ears. a potential accident could happen due to the high valuations and expectations. only in august will talk about major stock market wobbles. you never know. major stock market wobbles. you never know— never know. you mentioned the fed. never know. you mentioned the fed- this _ never know. you mentioned the fed- this is _ never know. you mentioned the fed. this is in _ never know. you mentioned the fed. this is in anyway _ never know. you mentioned the fed. this is in anyway put - fed. this is in anyway put pressure on them? i fed. this is in anyway put pressure on them? i think the fed is under _ pressure on them? i think the fed is under pressure - pressure on them? i think the fed is under pressure to - pressure on them? i think the| fed is under pressure to some degree because it has the difficultjob of trying to keep inflation to 2% while the employment at the same time. in the background, it probably has to think about financial market stability. only 18 months ago we were talking about american banks going fairly and they probably also need to think about the terrible federal deficit which in october and november grew at a record pace for the two months of the financial year and the more that that gets really out of control and investors become worried, then, you know, american borrowing costs and bond deals could go up. they want to keep the american interest bill low. it is over $1 trillion a year. if he can get interest rates down, that might help. it is under pressure on several fronts,

yes. pressure on several fronts, es. ., ~' pressure on several fronts, es. . ~ , ., y pressure on several fronts, es. ., ~ , ., , . yes. ok. thank you very much. i look forward _ yes. ok. thank you very much. i look forward to _ yes. ok. thank you very much. i look forward to our _ yes. ok. thank you very much. i look forward to our next - yes. ok. thank you very much. i look forward to our next chat, i look forward to our next chat, russ mould. let's now turn our attention to india. the world's second largest steel producer has said it is considering imposing a temporary tax on imported steel, as the country sees a surge in cheap chinese imports of the alloy. our india business correspondent, nikhil inamdar, has the latest. speaking at the sidelines of an event on thursday, the indian steel minister said the company is weighing a decision to impose a safe guard duty or a temporary tax on steel. this comes as imports of steel have surged to a seven—year high in the first seven months of this year, according to reuters data. in particular, data, concern on chinese's dumping of cheap imports. local industry leaders have been complaining about this for a while as it has hit their pricing power and

taken the utilisation of production capacity to a four—year low. the duty to be imposed is likely to be low, but it could be up to 25% for two years on flat steel products, in the face of a looming trade war between the us and china, india's two largest trading partners. let's get some of the day's other news now. china's top leaders have pledged further measures in an attempt to boost consumption, as concerns grow about the potential impact of trade tensions with the incoming trump administration. beijing has pledged higher debt issuance and looser monetary policy — as the country braces for the impact of tarrifs on exports. warner bros discovery has announced it will split its cable tv businesses away from its streaming and studio operations. the move could allow for a potential sale of its tv operations — including us giant, cnn. shares of warner bros jumped 15% in thursday's trading. the split is expected to be finalised by the middle

of next year. a british hedge fund trader has been sentenced to 12 years in jail for orchestrating a tax fraud that cost the danish government more than $1.3 billion. sanjay shah is the founder of the london—based hedge fund, solo capital partners. prosecutors had accused him of fraudulently claiming dividend tax refunds from the danish treasury by making a series of complex trades. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news.

the united states has offered $85 million reward for information about an alleged scheme in which north korean

technology workers got jobs scheme in which north korean technology workers gotjobs at unsuspecting us companies then stole their trade secrets for ransom with the proceeds used to fund pyongyang's weapons programmes. suranjana tewari is following the story from our asia business hub in singapore. i couldn't get my head around this story at first. tell us the details about what we do know. , , , know. yes, this is quite the sto . know. yes, this is quite the story- the _ know. yes, this is quite the story. the us _ know. yes, this is quite the story. the us state - know. yes, this is quite the - story. the us state department says the way the scheme worked was that between 2017 and 2023, about 130 north korean workers managed to get itjobs at us companies and nonprofits using stolen us identities. they then allegedly stole sensitive company information, including source code, and threatened to leak it unless the employer made an extortion payment. they are thought to have generated, as you said, at least $88

million. the us says part of the total was the workers' salaries, which ultimately went to the north korean government. the us accuses pyongyang of using that money for weapons of mass destruction. we don't know the companies' names, they have been identified, and the north korean mission to the united nations in new 1535 00:15