20/01/2017 World Business Report

Now for the latest financial news with Aaron Heslehurst

Slashing taxes, talking tough on trade, and ripping up

America's President-Elect promises double the growth and millions

Plus, his arch rival, China, confirms its weakest growth

since 1990, with fears of even tougher times ahead.

Welcome to the programme. We have the Friday feeling. You will see a

snapshot of all the different things going on in the business world.

We start in Washington, where, as you've been hearing,

later today, Donald Trump will be sworn in as the 45th President

The billionaire businessman has gone from longshot candidate

to the leader of world biggest economy in just a year and a half.

His supporters will now be hoping that he can shake up the US economy

in the same way the he shook up the presidential race.

He has promised to create 25 million jobs over ten years and to double

the annual rate of economic growth to 4%.

He's promised to take a tough line on trade,

and on countries he sees as undercutting US workers

He has famously threatened to slap a 35% tariff on Mexican imports

and a 45% tariff on products from China, raising fears

To start with, though, he will renegotiate

the North American Free Trade Agreement.

He also says he'll cut America's high corporate taxes,

which have pushed big US firms to offshore a lot of their business

Critics say this is too expensive and will help big companies rather

And he promises to free up business by ripping up red tape.

He says 70% of all federal regulations can go.

He hopes that will encourage firms to keep more jobs in the US

Shares of the United States' biggest companies have certainly reacted

The Trump Rally has faded in recent days, but the benchmark Dow Jones

industrial average is still up around 9% since Mr Trump

Some of the top gainers have been the big Wall Street banks.

They were hit by a huge amount of regulation since the 2008

financial crisis, known as the Dodd Frank Act.

And as Samira Hussain reports, they are hoping its days

The Trump inauguration will no doubt be the main talking point

at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

We've been reporting from there all week.

So, let's go live to Switzerland now for some reaction.

Dr Paul Sheard is Global Chief Economist at S Global.

It is great to have you on the programme. Lots to talk about. Can

we start with this whole thing about reversing globalisation and bringing

jobs back to America apparently 5 million have been lost from the US

since 2000. Most of the reason is technology, not because they have

been outsourced across the world. It is great to be here. It is difficult

to untangle the effects of technology and liberalisation. There

are probably elements of both. -- globalisation. Most economists

probably think that comparative advantage is driving it more than

anything else. As you indicated, there is a sense of a shift in the

atmospherics and the policies coming out of the world's largest economy.

Are people in your game bracing ourselves for a possible trade war?

That is on everyone's radar screen, but people are not expecting him to

go in that direction. Trade war, protectionism, the 1930s and that

situation, it would not be consistent with aiming for 4%

growth, because he is the man with the art of the deal, the negotiator

in Chief. The message seems to be we want free trade, but on fair terms

to America. In the past, America has been open with its market. The

message is now that has not always served all segments of the American

population well. So he will get tougher when it comes to striking

trade deals and re- looking at them, and NAFTA is at the top of the list,

of course. They will start with that straightaway, apparently. Shortly,

the big tax cuts he has planned, will they be enough if they go

through to bring a lot of this American corporate money, the

millions and billions offshore, bring it back to the US? I think it

could be an important development, Aaron, because it has been out a

long time. We have had divided government in the US and it has been

difficult to get anything done. There has been a strong consensus

that this corporate cash going offshore needs to come back. Donald

Trump may be the man to do it with the economists on his side. Put a

jacket on! It is -20 down there! We appreciate you joining us. At least

the global economy is not freezing. There you go! See? A nice line to

end on. Joining us from Davos in Switzerland.

We are also in China, where official growth figures have

They have confirmed that last year, China's economy grew at its slowest

pace in more than a quarter of a century.

China's growth rate hit 6.8% in the last three months of 2016.

That's slightly better than expected, and slightly better

But it still leaves the annual growth rate at 6.7% for 2016,

bang in the middle of the government's target

The bad news is that it's the weakest rate in 26 years.

1990 was just after the crackdown in Tiananmen Square,

when China was isolated internationally.

But the good news is, China has avoided the economic slump

many around the world were fearing, largely thanks to huge amounts

Let's talk to the BBC's Steve McDonell in Beijing.

It is good to see you. Let us start with how interesting 6.7% is. Right

in the middle of what Beijing said they would do. Can I ask you this,

the last thing President Xi Jinping needs is Donald Trump to start a

trade spat because that could hit the Chinese economy quite hard,

couldn't it? Absolutely. There is a lot of fear here that China, which

has benefited greatly from globalisation, could take a hit from

these tariffs if they take place. A could argue that United States

consumers have also benefited greatly from free trade. They will

suffer if there is a tariff on iPads, for example, and prices go

up. Every time we see these numbers the questions lies about. I have to

throw it out. Can you trust these numbers and what comes out of

Beijing? This is a good question. I am in just before I come to whether

the figures are real, let us assume they are solid. -- I mean,. The

Chinese government, 6.7%. Many governments would give their hand

for that. For China, it means they are worried about a slowing economy.

Policymakers say it is all part of the plan here though. China needs

slower growth that relies more on domestic consumption and less on

exports. That is why we are seeing these figures. But as to whether

they are real or not, it is interesting, people have long

suspected some provinces artificially inflate their GDP

figures to make the government look good. Sometimes they underestimate

them to draw more attention and help from the central government. For the

first time, we have just had the governor admitting that over several

years in his province, the figures were fake. The figures were

doctored. And so he says that they have misled the national government

on GDP figures. This is just fuelling more and more concerned

that you cannot trust these statistics in China. Indeed. Thank

you very much for the explanation, Steve. Have fun on the weekend.

Other news now. President-Elect Donald Trump's

choice for Treasury Secretary, Steven Mnuchin, has

faced strong criticism during a Senate

confirmation hearing. Mr Mnuchin is a former

a Goldman Sachs banker turned hedge He faced accusations

that his former bank, OneWest, ruined lives during the US

property crash by foreclosing But he told the Senate Finance

Committee "I have been maligned." I don't really want to do the

markets. You are forcing me to do it. There you go. Everyone is

watching the inauguration today. I will be back with James Menendez to

look at the papers.