♪ brent: this isslaps $60 billionn intellectual property. as for europe, trump says those feared steel tariffs are on hold for now. also coming up, european leaders meeting in russell's -- meeting in brussels with a trade war no longer an imminent threat, focusing on brexit and the risks

of not reaching a final deal on britain's exit from the eu. plus, france's powerful trade unions bring transport to a standstill to protest new labor reforms. ♪ brent: i'm brent goff. good to have you with us. tonight president donald trump is keeping his word on trade and he could be starting a global trade war in the process. today he unveiled up to $60 billion of trade tariffs targeting china, for alleged theft of intellectual property. it's a broadside beijing has already said it will retaliate against and comes on top of tariffs on steel and aluminum that go into effect tomorrow. >> u.s. president donald trump is also good -- is always good

for a surprise. on thursday he did and economic about-face and decided to spare the european union of from a terribly levied on steel and aluminum, at least for the time being. >> we are just starting a negotiation with the european union, because they have really shut out our country to a large extent. they have barriers that they can trade with us, but we can trade with them. they are very strong barriers, very high terrace. we don't. it is just not fair. reporter: in the senate committee, the u.s. trade representative earlier announced the names of countries which president trump would defer import duties. >> we have the to nafta countries, we know who they are. we have europe, australia, we have brazil, who am i forgetting? and obviously, korea where we are negotiating.

reporter: he took aim at china, hitting them with tariffs on up to $60 billion worth of imports, in retaliation of what americans see the theft of intellectual property. brent: we want to go to correspondent claire richardson in washington. good evening, claire. claire: nice to see you brent. brent: we know president trump has slapped trade tariffs on many countries. why is the u.s. now singling out beijing for further penalties? claire: rent, it is a white -- brent, it's a widespread view here in the u.s. that something needs to done -- needs to be done about china, flooding the market with cheap steel and aluminum. but the u.s. just wrapped up an investigation that shows the chinese estate used hackers to steal business secrets and gave

chinese companies unfair positions in the u.s. market. what is controversial about these tariffs is that they are sweeping, they could provoke retaliatory measures from china and ultimately result in a trade war between the world's two largest economies. brent: that is the big worry tonight. a sigh of relief, maybe, from the european union. we found up to 90 u.s. plans to exempt eu and allies from steel tariffs. what more do w know? claire: the u.s. trade representative said the eu will initially be exempt from the tariffs set to take effect tomorrow. that is going to be a big relief for the eu, but a temporary one. their status is still going to depend on further negotiations, and remember, these tariffs were in many ways more controversial. europe had been scrambling to find a way out of them. for the u.s. what it means is that there is the potential, the potential economic impact of the tariffs is going to be much

lower. brent: when you look at all this, how much support can we say u.s. president trump enjoys in the united states, at home, for these trade policies? claire: well, tariffs on aluminum and steel, for example, are popular among labor unions and in the rust belt states, where steelworkers are hoping that this measure will protect their jobs. and many ways this is trump's effort to make good on a campaign promise that he is going to get tough on china, that he's going to save american jobs, and it could be devastating for u.s. consumers. and some economists think it is going to cost jobs for people who are employed in the aluminum and steel industries. as for tariffs on china, we have already seen threats of retaliatory measures meant to hit u.s. industries like agriculture, and punish state that trump is going to need to win reelection. the we will see how popular they are once truck -- once china

makes its next move. brent: and midterm elections are not all that far away. claire, thank you very much. and stock markets do not like even the hint of a global trade war, do they? >> of course not and we are seeing the reaction immediately in the stock markets. because, of course, this will impact the businesses, the companies, many of which have strong ties to china. don't take it from me, let's take it from our financial correspondent at the stock exchange. listening to the president, if china stops taking advantage of the u.s., if jobs continue to rise, if products from the u.s. will get protected against theft , why are the markets down? reporter: donald trump said china is a friend but his remarks didn't sound that

friendly, at all. the announcement could have huge implications on all kinds of industries. we already heard the agriculture industry, especially, good get -- could get hit hard from retaliatory measures from china. but that could also be true for u.s. carmakers who asked her quite a bit to china. also, when it comes to the financial industry, chinese investors have pumped quite a lot of money, for example, in some u.s. financial institutions, and the same is true for u.s. technology companies. they might also not be able to get a lot of money from chinese investors in the future. so there are a lot of implications and therefore, this highly negative reaction. >> this is a step-by-step process. there will be a 30 day period for stakeholders to provide feedback. does that mean there will be less tough sanctions in the end,

not sanctions, but tariffs, in the end, or is it just to listen and not really take action? reporter: donald trump is well known for being rough verbally and then trying to get the better negotiation position. that is also going to be the case when it comes to china, and remains to be seen. wall street at least seems to be very skeptical that everything in the end will play out well. i mean, the blue chips are down by more than 700 points, a drop of almost 3%. so it is pretty likely something will happen. and by the way, we also got from the democratic senator chuck schumer, comments that in this case he actually applauds the u.s. president. so obviously, politically there is some backing or backup for that announcement that donald trump made here on thursday, in regards to china.

so certainly, a lot of uncertainty, but it doesn't really sound like there is going to be a nice and peaceful way out of it, at least at this point. >> a polarizing decision. thank you. we will follow the story with you. now back to brent and a big day in brussels. brent: exactly right, hobby. eu leaders are try to digest donald trump trump's latest trade moves at the summit in brussels. brexit is the main topic on the agenda. there was relief europe will be exempt from washington's steel tariffs, at least for now. reporter: it is a coup for europe, good news from the u.s. as the eu summit come under way. eu leaders expected this but feel exonerated and see that eu unity raise dividends. >> we made it clear in the commission we don't want a trade war, which would not help

anyone. and we made it clear that we are ready and able to undertake adequate countermeasures. first of all, the eu presented a united front. that's good, and also a commitment to free trade and against protectionism. since the beginning of the month, u.s. president trump threatened to levy a 10% tariff on aluminum and steel. however, after intensive negotiations with the european union, washington will exempt the eu and six other nations from the tariffs, for the time being at least. that is when these countries and their leaders are wary, and asking the u.s. to reconsider for the long term, and not create any trade barriers. >> my wish at least is that we continue with the rules of international trade, which are good for us all. what would also be good for all of them is to come to further agreements with prime minister theresa may. she seemed relaxed as talks

turned to eu relationships. she also maintained that security, even as a soon-to-be ex eu country, has top priority. >> i will once again be stressing the united kingdom's unconditional commitment to the future security of europe great and i believe that together, we can work to ensure that we overcome the challenges that we all face. reporter: there is no need to explain to eu the importance of togetherness. they are delighted they were able to solve together, at least for the time being, a major trade dispute with the u.s., and not individually. brent: let's go to our correspondent max hoffman, at that summit in brussels. max, this is good news, at least at face value, if we don't have to worry about those terrorists here in europe for the time being. can european leaders focus on other things? max: theoretically, but a lot of

the focus is still on those steel tariffs. and i will tell you what, brent, the president of the eu commission didn't even want to comment on it about an hour ago. they wanted to verify this information. that shows you how much trust they have and what donald trump, the u.s. president, actually says. they want to make sure this is actually going to happen the way we have heard it is going to happen. if it happens, the eu leaders here are happy about it because many take this as a victory by the eu union, by lobbying in washington dc, the people that are responsible for making the policy having a united front, and in the end walking away with the exemption. brent: will there be any consequences, assuming that there will be no trade tariffs? max: the way the u.s. president put it, this is just a phase, a pause, to negotiate more. so apparently, the americans are

expecting that this will not be business as usual, but that things need to change. the europeans see this exactly the other way and if things don't change, maybe we will be back at .0, where we are right now -- back at point zero. but politicians say there needs to be things changing within the european union. europe needs to change its strategy when it comes to trade, when he comes to investment. i talked to the head of the greens and here is what he had to say. >> we should really question our economic strategy and see if we need rebalancing to boost internal demand in order to make us less dependent on exports to the u.s., to the u.k. come that u.k., to china, or to anyone else that makes the eu vulnerable. brent: there is also the issue at the summit, the poisoning of a former russian spy on british

soil. the british prime minister is looking to get backing from her colleagues in brussels. is she getting what she wants? max: we haven't seen the exact wording of the declaration, but what we do know is that there probably won't be any unconditional blaming of russia. there will be a lot of, it was likely russia was involved. because the only country we have that says it was definitely russia is the united kingdom, closely followed by france. but if you look at the wording that angela merkel, the german chancellor, used over the last couple of days, she is more careful. so they don't want to be 100% on this, but at the same time they want to show absolute solidarity with the u.k. and look for the balancing act in the final declaration. but we do know that angela merkel and the french president and theresa may, prime minister of the u.k., already met and said yes, full solidarity, and

we want to send a clear message to russia. that would exactly the message will be, will have to wait. brent: max hoffman at that eu summit tonight in brussels. max, thank you. here are some other stories making headlines around the world. a german court has sentenced an afghan refugee to life in prison for killing a teenage student in the city of fried pork -- b fryborg. critics say eu checks on migrants are inadequate. german lawmakers of authorized more troops for afghanistan. the next woman -- the next him him number of german forces on the ground will rise to 1300. the expansion was approved because of deteriorating security in the country. afghanistan as part of the nato-led mission resolute support, which provides training

and assistance to the afghan army. the russian ambassador to london says written cannot be trusted in investigating the poisoning of a next -- of an ex spy and his daughter. the ambassador said britain had accused russia of the attempted murders without presenting evidence. he also said russia could not take british accusations seriously, because the british have a record of misleading the international community. we made mistakes. that is what facebook boss mark zuckerberg has said, in response to that data scandal involving his company and the data-mining firm cambridge analytica. and a statement on his facebook profile, zuckerberg apologized yesterday and promised users a new feature to turn off third-party apps.

those apps, which cambridge analytica allegedly used to harvest private information. reporter: it began with an innocent personality quiz and ended up with the data of 50 million facebook profiles being used to sway elections. now, the question is why didn't facebook do more to protect its users' data? the scientists behind the quiz says he is a scapegoat. >> did you know what they were going to do with it? >> no, that's the thing. i was siloed as far as funding and clients. i found out about donald trump just like anybody else. reporter: facebook founder mark zuckerberg broke days of silence on the scandal, admitting the company made mistakes. i started facebook, and at the end of th day i'm responsible

for what happens on our platform. we will learn from this experience, to secure our platform further and make our communities safer for everyone going forward. he has promised to make it easier for users to manage their privacy settings. even so, lawmakers are demanding answers from the man at the helm. >> wouldn't it be great for him to show up, like most americans do, when asked to testify as to the practices of his company? he can make millions of dollars in the u.s. and around the world but at least you got to respect our laws. reporter: there's concern outside the u.s. too. >> i'm demanding a nation as to how this happened, whether german users and accounts were affected, and what facebook intends to do to stop anything like this from happening again. reporter: added to a plummeting share price and threats of legal

action from investors, zuckerberg has much to think about. perhaps the biggest concern is loss of trust. >> when weird things show up on my facebook, something that i just searched on the internet, that freaks me out. >> what facebook is doing with my information, makes this feeling even stronger. ♪ reporter: the more that emerges, the more questions mount about one company's role in data protection and democracy. brent: switching gears, we go to france, which is at a standstill tonight, javier. javier: which is ironic, but travelers in france today are facing a new wave of strikes hitting the country. only two of every five high-speed trains were running thursday, and half of regional trains across the country have been canceled. unions are responding to president men well crohn's labor market reforms.

at the same time the countries largest airline, air france, is facing walkouts of its own. reporter: a bitter power struggle and a violent, chaotic and to a long day of strikes in france, with several cities around the country and here in paris, demonstrators fought street battles with police. before that, thousands, including rail workers had president -- had protested peacefully against president mccrone's labor-market reforms. it's a real battle if the government wants to talk about issues and the real sector, they need to withdraw their plans to privatize the rail company. rail managers say about one third of their workers walked out on strike during the course of the day, causing waves of train cancellations. the strikes were unregistered wildcat strikes, which makes them illegal. the union's urging members to engage in impromptu strikes,

even outside of official strike days. there is a constitutional right to strike but is essential that public services can get 4.5 million train passengers from point a to point the every day. -- point b every day. i consider the strikes serious. i've not seen anything like it. president mccrone wants to raise the retirement age for railway staff. right now conductors can retire at just 52 with other workers following a few years later. france's railways are deeply in red, groaning under 450 million euros in debt. the critics fear the reforms will open up even harsher measures. that's why your traffic controllers joined the strikes, and one third of harris bound flights had to be canceled. the showdown looks likely to drag on.

javier: in contrast to trade shows that showcase things like cars, planes, electronics, where it is all about being bolder and bigger, here is one to take her time. basel is currently hosting this e swiss luxury watch show. some people think the clock is ticking for luxury timepieces. reporter: tech companies have been exploiting the traditional wristwatch landscape now. millions of apple watches were sold last year and the smart watch trend is very much in evidence at the expo. >> clearly there is a momentum around smart watches and when we see a brand like apple shipping and selling more units in one single orchard then entire volumes exported by swiss watchmakers, this tells something about what is happening in this world and how smart watches are disrupting the watch industry.

correspondent: a few years ago established watchmakers were worried smart watches would kill off traditional mechanical timepieces. international watchmakers have pulled out all the stops to keep up with digital competition. at this year's basil worldwatch fair, more and more watchmakers are trying to stay in the game by offering connected and hybrid watches. but aside from the smart watch assault at the luxury and of the market, it suffered into any 12 after sales to china suffered in 2012. there is no doubt the luxury segment is keeping traditional watchmakers alive. >> the swiss luxury watch market is growing. it is growing mostly thanks to asia and china, specifically. reporter: but if swiss watchmakers want to survive long-term, have to bring entry-level customers back into the fold, before young people lose the watch have it completely. a growing number already rely

entirely on mobile phones to keep time. javier: that's all for business. back to britain now. brent: just a medal of months are left before germany defends its world cup title in russia. for the players on the german squad it is crunch time. the battle for spots on germany's world cup roster is said to be more competitive than ever. that means friday's match against spain all the more important. reporter: the best never rest is the motto the german football association, the dfb, has given to the national team's world cup title defense. it could also be a warning to the players vying for a spot against russia, don't rest on your laurels. my expectations from the players are as high as you would imagine. my talks with them have focused on that. they should prepare themselves and focus in every training

session, not just for the national team but also with their clubs. speaking of clubs, one prominent club has no players in this week's 26 man squad, perhaps a reminder time is mining -- time is running out. in mid-may the german coach will announce to his traveling to russia and only two friendly matches remain,, tuesday against brazil in friday against spain. >> i think we will start the game with our core. we will see what we do in the second game. reporter: the coach's scheduled top quality performance desktop quality opponents to test their

battle strength. we will need that if we are to survive in the summer. i need 23 players to perform and are capable of teamwork. it worked force in 2014. our team spirit was incredible. as for 2014, he had a message to the fans. to repeat what happened then is really not that simple, certainly not. but the german coach and his squad know they are the favorites to lift a title come july. brent: u.s. president donald trump has unveiled $50 billion in trade tariffs on china, for alleged theft of american intellectual property. but his government will spare key allies, including the european union on

already-announced serifs on steel and aluminum. european union leaders are in russia with brexit dominating the agenda as well as russia. after a short break i will take you through the day. tonight, we are looking at the future of facebook and its business model. is it a doomed model? [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] ♪

óóññ

♪ this week on "wealthtrack," kristi mitchum, ceo of wells fargo asset management has the research on the strong connection between control of your finances and happiness. that is next on "consuelo mack wealthtrack." ♪ >> new york life along with mainstay's family of mutual funds offers investment and retirement solutions so you can help your clients keep good going. >> additional funding provided by -- thornburg investment management. active management, flexible perspective. koo and patricia yuen through