23/01/2018 Asia Business Report

identifying a festival marking

the changes between seasons.

Plenty more on the BBC News website.

That's all from me for now.

Stay with BBC News.

And the top story here

in the UK:

The leader of Ukip,

Henry Bolton, has rejected calls

to step down because of the row

about racist texts sent

by his ex-girlfriend.

12 senior figures have resigned

from the party's front bench.

Now on BBC News, all the latest

business news live from Singapore.

In his first trade move against

Asia, Donald Trump slabs tariffs on

solar panels and washing machines

and the Indian Prime Minister

Narendra Modi will join the world's

political and business elite at

Davos in Switzerland this week, but

what does he want out of this

gathering? Good morning, Asia,

hello, world, but I -- glad you

could join us. He's talked about it

for a while but as part of his

America first trade policy US

President Donald Trump has approved

tariffs on imported solar cells and

large household washing machines.

The move is expected to impact

Chinese and South Korean

manufacturers and is widely seen as

the first trade move against Asia.

For more I'm joined by my colleague

and business reporter Timothy

McDonald. Tim, this is a tough new

trade policy from the Trump

administration.

In a way it's not exactly a new

policy, they are existing policies,

but he's taking a tougher line.

Carrots have been imposed by

administrations of both stripes,

Balmer slapped tariffs on Chinese

tires in 2009 -- tariffs -- Obama.

Campaigned on this. In October last

year he put tariffs on Bombardier, a

Canadian era space company -- he

campaigned on this. We might expect

more of this as the Trump

administration progresses --

aerospace company. It is Samsung and

LG who are the two affected

manufacturers from Korea. Whirlpool,

a US manufacturer, has been pushing

the barrel on this one, saying they

have lowered prices to such an

extent that they simply can't

compete and really this amounts to

an unfair trade practice. Of course

it will be the US consumer paying it

because tariffs just end up in the

pricetag and LG and Samsung say they

are starting manufacturing in the US

and this is counter-productive.

Solar panels, why is that such a

major issue for Americans?

It is a

big issue because of China, they

have really pursued solar

aggressively and there's a big

problem with appellation over there

and they want to do something about

it. -- air pollution. In the process

of kickstarting the solar industry,

it has to be said it has worked,

it's gone to 6% to 70% of the global

industry in a decade, they have

managed to push our US

manufacturers.

There's great concern among US

manufacturers.

The bottom line is

the US manufacturers have to make

prices more competitive to compete

with the Chinese and South Koreans.

Thanks for that update, my colleague

and business reporter Timothy

McDonald.

The President's move comes as

thousands of government and business

leaders gather in the small Swiss

town of Davos for the World Economic

Forum. President Trump is making an

appearance for the first in almost

two decades where a sitting US

president will attend the event.

Sally Bundock explains.

It is a gathering of the global

elite in the Swiss Alpine resort of

Davos, encouraging globalisation,

trade and integration.

3000 delegates are going from more

than 100 countries, including

leaders from politics, business and

even royalty. India's Narendra Modi,

Britain's Theresa May and Donald

Trump of the US all making an

appearance.

He's a president who is championed

America first, challenging the very

concept of free trade and

globalisation -- who has. A powerful

audience for him who have paid top

dollar to attend. Business leaders

including the likes of Chinese

entrepreneur Jack Facebook's Sam

Bird and IBM's Ginny Roma Teague to

name just a few. It's not just about

dealmaking, gender equality is a big

theme this year. Only 21% of Davos

delegates are women. There are high

profile campaigns under way not just

to tackle sexual harassment in the

workplace but also to bring an end

to unfair pay. Davos is often

criticised as being a talking shop

for the world's elite, so the big

question is, can it bring about any

lasting change?

As Sally mentioned in that report

from Asia, the highest profile

attendee is Narendra Modi, the

Indian Prime Minister, it's his

first time at the elite gathering

and the first visit by an Indian

leader in more than two decades. For

more on what India will look to get

out of this summit I am joined from

them by by our business reporter.

What is Mr Modi expected to say in

this World Economic Forum?

Well, Rico, before leaving yesterday

on Monday, Prime Minister and the

renderer Modi said he wanted to

share his vision to the

international community for India's

position, India's ability to do

things in the future. He's pitching

for India to be an engine of global

growth and he is going to be

explaining his reforms back home. He

will do that in a number of ways

apart from addressing the opening

session. He will meet members of the

international business council and

he is also meeting a lot of Indian

CEOs and he's hosting a dinner for

global CEOs. It's not just his

economics he will be pitching for,

he is taking soft power with him.

His delegation will offer yoga on

the ski slopes, it's the latest

high-profile attempt by India to

showcase its traditions back home.

That's what I'm looking forward to,

yoga on the ski slopes!

He's the first Indian leader in 20

years to attend the World Economic

Forum, why so?

The last Prime

Minister to attend was in 1997.

Since then the Indian economy has

doubled, it's now the seventh

largest economy in the world and

this is all part of Modi's election

campaign and his mandate as Prime

Minister. He has really prioritised

international trips, he wants to

pitch India has a global player, a

place to do business, a place open

to do business so he wants to

attract foreign investment and he is

using this summit in particular to

do that.

Thanks for updating us and looking

forward to Narendra Modi's speech.

Prospects for the global economy are

looking brighter according to the

IMF, it has upgraded its forecast

for the global economy for this year

to 3.9% thanks to strong

performances in Europe and Asia. Tax

reforms in the US are expected to

stimulate economic activity,

especially business investment but

the head of the IMF, Christine

Lagarde, warns many will not benefit

from this growth.

There are still too many people who

are left out of that recovery and

acceleration of growth. In fact,

about one fifth of emerging and

developing countries, one fifth of

emerging and developing countries,

saw their per capita income decline

in 2017.

Christine Lagarde from the

International Monetary Fund. The US

government shutdown is over at least

for now. Shares surging on the news

Wall Street's main indices hitting

record closing highs, the Dow up by

0.5% and the NASDAQ gaining 72. The

Senate has struck an agreement to

keep the government funded until the

eighth of February. I asked our

business reporter in New York Samira

Hussain if there was an impact on

the economy.

It was such a short time period,

meaning the cost to the economy in

the US will be negligible. Lots of

US agencies had funding to allow

them to extend days of work by at

least a week. The real impact would

have been minimal, especially if you

compare it to the last shutdown we

saw in the US in 2013, it lasted a

bit longer and there were many more

federal employees that were

furloughed and that have a greater

impact on the overall GDP. It was

estimated 0.3% of an impact to the

economic impact was made.

Is there

any guarantee we won't be in the

same situation in a few weeks?

That's the big question.

They are now funding until February

the eighth but what we need to see

now is some sort of immigration

reform. There's been a promise made

by the Republicans to the Democrats

that say the issue will be resolved

but it will be a tough slog.

Staying with the US and Netflix

shares surged overnight after

delivering strong results for the

last three months of last year.

Profitability up but what pleased

investors was solid subscriber

numbers. Be added over 8 million in

that quarter, more than Wall Street

expected and came after the release

of acclaimed shows like Stranger

Things and the Crown -- they added.

Their market capitalisation has now

crossed 100 billion US dollars.

A quick look at the markets and Asia

is being boosted after those record

closes on Wall Street overnight. The

Nikkei is up by 180 points, the Hang

Seng 212 and the ordinary is, 107.

Thank you so much for