:00:00. > :00:14.Now on BBC News all the latest business news live from Singapore.
:00:15. > :00:23.Could China be the next big electric car exporter? We will show you the
:00:24. > :00:27.latest from the Shanghai Auto Show. And Donald Trump orders an
:00:28. > :00:39.investigation into steel imports. We find out why. Hello and welcome to
:00:40. > :00:43.the Friday edition of Asia Business Report. I'm Sharanjit Leyl. The
:00:44. > :00:47.world's biggest car makers have unveiled a range of plans to go
:00:48. > :00:59.electric. But the number one manufacturer, VW, still says they
:01:00. > :01:06.see life in combustion models. Robert Brunt is at the Shanghai Auto
:01:07. > :01:10.Show for us. What are some of the latest models you are seeing there?
:01:11. > :01:14.Everybody is here. This is the biggest car show in the biggest car
:01:15. > :01:19.market in the world. All the manufacturers are here shown what
:01:20. > :01:22.they have. This is not just about what you can drive away today, but
:01:23. > :01:25.what you can drive away tomorrow. That includes autonomous vehicles
:01:26. > :01:29.and electric vehicles. China wants to become the leader in the
:01:30. > :01:33.electorate. That is the technology behind the cars, the batteries, but
:01:34. > :01:38.also getting people to buy and drive them. Because it sees it as one way
:01:39. > :01:41.of dealing with the huge pollution problem in the country. So I will be
:01:42. > :01:46.looking at the strategies for some of the car makers when it comes to
:01:47. > :02:18.electric, and that includes the largest carmaker in the world, VW.
:02:19. > :02:23.TRANSLATION: We will continue to develop combustion engines in the
:02:24. > :02:26.next two years. Nobody knows and we will see the tipping point between
:02:27. > :02:28.electric engines and combustion engines. I think we will have them
:02:29. > :03:23.for the next 20 years. TRANSLATION: New technologies always
:03:24. > :03:28.need help. But car companies cannot live on their own. Infrastructure is
:03:29. > :03:34.very, very important. And therefore, the government can do a lot of
:03:35. > :03:35.important work for the infrastructure for these kind of
:03:36. > :03:53.vehicles. -- kinds. Soapie increasing lure of the SUV
:03:54. > :04:01.could cause problems for China's desire to go to electric. -- So the.
:04:02. > :04:08.A bit like Google, a lot of money has gone towards autonomous
:04:09. > :04:13.vehicles. It hopes to have vehicles on the road, on the streets, the
:04:14. > :04:18.real streets, by 2020, but interestingly, I spoke to a senior
:04:19. > :04:22.adviser at VW, they have their own plans, but they weren't sure about
:04:23. > :04:26.that ambitious plan. They had concern about operating the vehicles
:04:27. > :04:29.in such a short space of time in conditions other than clear daytime.
:04:30. > :04:38.You'll be watching the story there at the Shanghai Auto Show. And we
:04:39. > :04:43.will get more from there throughout the day. The global steel industry
:04:44. > :04:48.is the latest target of Donald Trump's result put America first. He
:04:49. > :04:53.is imported an investigation into whether imports of foreign-made
:04:54. > :04:58.steel is hurting American companies. -- he has ordered an. China is the
:04:59. > :05:03.biggest producer of steel and would be the one to hurt most if there
:05:04. > :05:06.were restrictions on the importing of steel.
:05:07. > :05:15.This allows the Federal government to launch an investigation to see if
:05:16. > :05:21.the steel imports, if it hurts US steel companies, domestic companies,
:05:22. > :05:25.and, crucially, if this is in fact a threat to national security. This
:05:26. > :05:31.was met with great cheers from American steel companies. In fact,
:05:32. > :05:34.they would rally at on the exchanges in US markets today. Because they
:05:35. > :05:38.have long complained that the dumping of foreign steel on Tig US
:05:39. > :05:45.market is really puts them at a disadvantage. And how odd doesn't
:05:46. > :05:51.seem that Donald Trump seems to be reverting to a 1962 law that limits
:05:52. > :05:57.imports, based on, as you say, national security? -- the US market.
:05:58. > :06:05.It is certainly rarely use. But one of the key factors in using this is
:06:06. > :06:11.that if it does meet the criteria of being a threat to national security,
:06:12. > :06:18.it would allow the US to impose retaliatory measures. -- used. Some
:06:19. > :06:25.of those measures could include tariffs. The trick will be proving a
:06:26. > :06:30.national security risk. In 2001, a similar probe was launched, and they
:06:31. > :06:38.did not find any evidence that this was a threat to national security.
:06:39. > :06:44.So it might be a tough sell. I guess the elephant in the room is that
:06:45. > :06:48.this may well be seen to be targeting China. They have got a
:06:49. > :06:52.glut of steel on the market at the moment. And they have been accused
:06:53. > :06:58.of dumping it cheaply on others. Absolutely. American steel companies
:06:59. > :07:05.in the first to complain of this kind of dumping. -- have been the
:07:06. > :07:13.first. Tons of US to make foreign steel makes its way to US markets.
:07:14. > :07:17.At as Donald Trump tries to force a bigger mandate of buying American
:07:18. > :07:23.hiring American, you need to look at his $1 trillion plan for spending on
:07:24. > :07:27.infrastructure. He said that when it comes to those projects, it is
:07:28. > :07:34.imperative that those projects use American things, like American
:07:35. > :07:39.steel. So this is in tune with the idea that the President wants to
:07:40. > :07:41.protect what is happening here in the United States. And those
:07:42. > :07:51.protectionist ideas are really coming to fruition, here. Samira
:07:52. > :08:04.Hussein there. Businesses have been complaining about the expensive and
:08:05. > :08:15.complicated fees in China. Earlier, I spoke to somebody from the China
:08:16. > :08:21.Market Research. He says tax cuts could help businesses. It will
:08:22. > :08:25.foster innovation. I think the problem in China for a long time has
:08:26. > :08:29.been that smaller businesses have not understood the tax code. They
:08:30. > :08:33.have not had the money to be up to keep up with new changes to tax
:08:34. > :08:37.laws. It has been difficult for them to adapt. The changes that are now
:08:38. > :08:40.happening in the tax code, it is a good buy things and make it easier
:08:41. > :08:45.for small businesses to survive, because there are all tax rate will
:08:46. > :08:49.go down. In spite of the better than expected GDP numbers earlier this
:08:50. > :08:54.week, do these tax cuts, these measures by the Chinese economy to
:08:55. > :09:00.try to prop up its economy, do they suggest that they are slightly
:09:01. > :09:04.worried? I think that this will probably not helped the economy that
:09:05. > :09:07.much in the short-term. But I think they are taking a longer-term
:09:08. > :09:11.approach you. If you look at the traditional model, it has been
:09:12. > :09:15.impressed, invest, invest. But they are realising now that they cannot
:09:16. > :09:19.invest in a lot more infrastructure projects. It is up to make the
:09:20. > :09:24.difference is they need. So this is actually going to give them the
:09:25. > :09:30.ability to really drive growth. -- invest. Do you think this is part of
:09:31. > :09:36.a larger fiscal reform China has in mind? It is hard to say. I want to
:09:37. > :09:40.say yes. We have been in a situation where we take to step forwards than
:09:41. > :09:43.one back. It is difficult to know with the current people in power
:09:44. > :09:47.what is really going to happen in the longer term. I suspect that with
:09:48. > :09:54.this tightening its publication, we are moving in that direction. And
:09:55. > :10:01.what are your forecasts for the outlook in China? Is a magic, higher
:10:02. > :10:07.than expected GDP, but can they sustain that? I am positive. I was
:10:08. > :10:15.worried will go to go through a sustained slowdown. -- as I said
:10:16. > :10:20.earlier, higher than. There was a lot of investment be. Highly cash. I
:10:21. > :10:24.think that we will have a good year and I think that they should be able
:10:25. > :10:29.to hit their targets or them. A quick look at the markets. They have
:10:30. > :10:31.all opened higher. That is it for today's addition. Thank you for
:10:32. > :10:44.watching. You are watching BBC News. Our main
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