chinese tourists have discovered the high seas and their goods to demand for big and even bigger cruise ships. this is business. as welcome another front seems to open in the global trade war south korea is now seeking help from the united states in its dispute with japan the japanese government has imposed imposed export restrictions on some products bound for south korea after seoul called on tokyo to compensate forced laborers on the 2nd world war that has led to a public backlash against japanese products in south korea seoul has warned the u.s. trade curbs will hurt tech firms around the world materials affected are key to making memory chips and smartphone springs. let's bring in our financial correspondent chelsea delaney who's standing by in frankfurt chelsea how bad is this will consumers have to worry about getting their hands on a smartphone anytime soon. well i think if you are planning on buying

a smartphone this year should maybe reconsider but as you said you know these chemicals that japan has restricted are critical to basically every consumer product today or consumer electronic you know pretty much smartphones but also t.v. . tablets you know all sorts of electronics and the problem is that japan is dominant and all 3 of these chemicals they control basically 70 to 90 percent of the supply for all 3 of them so for south korea there's really nowhere else that they can go to get these products so they have some stockpiles samsung says it has about 3 months worth but i would expect you know delays to ripple through the companies like apple amazon samsung but also to be expecting higher prices for these products and some sort of very wide ranging effects could this also affect the way to roll out of 5 g.

networks around the world grid. right well that's a concern for europe and you know the background here is that europe is lagging behind in 5 g. it's it's not anywhere near. the 5 g. standards that the u.s. or is that right now. so semiconductors are obviously a huge part of the internet of things so there definitely is concern that any sort of cut back the amount of semiconductors out there could slow it down. just generally at the amount of the speed of 5 you'd option so it's many in france would think you. many companies today prevent pretend that they're socially conscious and ecological but if you look at the value changed things often look different the value chain expresses where the money is being made and by whom under what conditions who gets what share of the final price of a product in the textile industry for example very often workers and asia who

actually make the garments end up with a pittance and work in horrible conditions the german government is now threatening companies who sell these products in germany with legislation if they continue to fail cleaning up their supply chains. their quiet and above all emission free electric cars millions of them will soon be rolling onto the streets of germany and every battery that powers those electric motors requires cobalt to work with the badly needed metal is being mined here the democratic republic of congo is home to the majority of the world's cobalt stockpiles mining cobalt is bad for the environment plus it often takes place under in human conditions and involving child labor. that's why car manufacturers have started an initiative to ensure the origin of the cobalt can be traced that would also make it possible to check the conditions under which it's extracted and processed. carmaker

b.m.w. even wants to discontinue its use of cobalt from the d r c. but how can companies guarantee that the whole supply chain has protected the health of workers in developing countries. can suppliers guarantee safe conditions and compliance with human rights standards. critics say not enough is being done they demand an internationally binding agreement but that could be a long time coming. with me in the studio now is miriam's argument she is from the european center for constitutional and human rights and has looked into this issue if if we look at the value creation if more of that would be shifted towards asia and africa wouldn't better pay and working conditions follow automatically well i think this is in the promise which we have not been seen for filled over the last 30 years so i would say no to promise that well that is

neoliberal capitalists have been saying that and that's also been the reason why companies have been putting their supply chains and outsourcing them out of europe northern and merica to countries of the global south and i think they've been doing that precisely to avoid higher standards that ensure better working conditions and that also ensure bargaining power for workers to improve wages and that has been difficult to prove to be difficult to follow up in those countries where the german government is now looking at legislation is forcing companies to to look at the working conditions in their supply chains is a national move towards this not hurting german businesses and. other businesses sort of feel that fill in the gaps of germany is not the 1st country to do so you have legislation in france that has already established such a duty of care for french company decision and robust well it has been just been

introduced a year ago and we don't quite know yet if it is really working and sufficiently it's switzerland us also looking into a similar initiative and i think it's quite reasonable for the german government to start this initiative obviously in international you e.u. wide regulation would be more effective because it was cat would capture more companies but i think it needs to be nation states probably to start the momentum whether it be nation states or international bodies let's say to the final agreement on the on stand. it's what would need to be in those laws or in those agreements well it would need to clearly define the obligations that companies headquartered in the global north have to watch to supply chains and that quite detailed. being making standards for duties of care of how to improve working conditions the more precise and the more binding those standards

are and then all of those laws would be i think the more efficient because it would eventually also force companies to probably potentially look at their purchasing practices into their. financing practices which then would eventually benefit workers in the global south just very briefly how likely is it that we find an international agreement anytime soon well i'm a little bit afraid it's not very likely so this is why we need nation states like germany to go ahead and to create the momentum miriam's arguments thank you very much thank you. and now to some of the other stories making news around the world the french parliament has passed a law taxing many of the world's biggest internet companies the proposals have angered the west with the white house saying it would unfairly affect american companies french finance minister will now says it could raise up to half a 1000000000 euros a year. ryanair is worried about next year's summer flight schedule if

boeing doesn't soon deliver the 737 max after it has ordered the low budget airline can only take delivery of a handful of planes a month and any delay could threaten its expansion plans. german weapons exports are on the rise again in has already approved arms exports worth 5300000000 euros this year that's more than all of last year it's an abrupt change after years of declining record sales. just days after slashing 18000 jobs and scrapping its global equities unit u.s. authorities are reportedly probing doj about the probe concerns corruption and money laundering allegations surrounding malaysia's sovereign wealth fund one m d the u.s. authorities say 4 and a half $1000000000.00 was stolen from one and libyan spent on everything from your to expensive art or to buy and help raise over a $1000000000.00 for one m.t.v.

and 2014 even as concerns about the fund began to circulate. they won't be in the preserve of wealthy american retirees seeking to see the world after a lifetime of work but the average cruise passenger is looking quite different these days chinese tourists are increasingly taking to the seas creating a growing market for cruise ships and the industry is responding. welcome aboard the spectrum of the seas one of a generation of new cruise liners built specifically for the asian market gone of the formal dinner dances of bingo halls perhaps associated with the traditional cruise traveler they've been replaced with robotic bartenders and other top end tech it's all in an attempt to appeal to a growing market china the u.s. tremaine is by far the biggest source of seafaring tourists in the world there were 13100000 of them last year but now in 2nd place 6 china where

2400000 people took a cruise ship holiday during 28 team puts it ahead of other traditionally big markets such as germany u.k. and ireland and australia. talk of unease in china say infuse the us and for cruises is growing as more and more chinese gained the wealth needed to see the world we can see that shifts again in that year and there are more things like living on the ship is like living. daily living you can live on a share for days well or for the construction of big a fancier ships is seen as a major problem particularly by environmentalists last month activists prevented a ship from leaving the german port of kill citing the large amounts of so for oxide the boats pump out to sea and communities in top cruise destinations of also complained about their impact this a parent's near miss between a ship and a smaller boat in venice as congested canals caught on camera at the weekend has

further fueled the movement to get them banned from the italian city. new industry regulations will force cruise companies to cut their emissions next year propelled by chinese growth will continue to ferry millions of people to destinations all around the world including some where they're not always welcome. and that's it for me and the business as a team here in berlin for more business news analysis. stories go through dot com slash business don't go away right now because the news is up next friday off this quick look up global markets.

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. play. is. d.w. news live from berlin the showdown in the gulf britain says a royal navy frigates has driven off a rainy and boats trying to intercept a british oil tanker iran denies there was any confrontation. on the program powerful storm devastates group devastates greece's northern coastal areas leaving saffron dad and dozens injured. french lawmakers vote for a digital services tax cut washington says unfairly targets american tech giants.