0:00:00 > 0:00:04to have made a former Russian spy and his daughter critically ill.
0:00:04 > 0:00:16Now on BBC News all the latest business news live from Singapore.
0:00:16 > 0:00:21Asian markets react to the news that the White House's top economic
0:00:21 > 0:00:26adviser steps down just hours after President Trumps stands firm on
0:00:26 > 0:00:31steel and aluminium tariffs. And billions of dollars in offshore oil
0:00:31 > 0:00:43and gas are mocked for East Timor. Welcomed Asia Business Report live
0:00:43 > 0:00:50from Singapore with me, Marika Oi. The White House's top economic
0:00:50 > 0:00:55adviser Gary Cohn has resigned, reportedly unhappy about the
0:00:55 > 0:00:59President's proposed tariffs and that it could trigger a trade war.
0:00:59 > 0:01:04We are already seeing the impact on the market, especially on the US
0:01:04 > 0:01:08dollar falling against safe haven currencies such as the Japanese yen
0:01:08 > 0:01:14and Swiss franc. Mr Trump tweeted that he will appoint a new person to
0:01:14 > 0:01:20the role in the coming weeks. The news of Gary Cohn's resignation came
0:01:20 > 0:01:28shortly after his comments that the recent dispute he disagree with.The
0:01:28 > 0:01:31United States has been taken advantage of by other countries both
0:01:31 > 0:01:37friendly and not so friendly for many, many decades and we have a
0:01:37 > 0:01:44trade deficit of $800 billion a year. And that's not going to happen
0:01:44 > 0:01:51with me.Mr Trump is standing firm on the proposed tariffs so I asked
0:01:51 > 0:01:56our business reporter in New York in this latest resignation of Gary Cohn
0:01:56 > 0:02:02had come as a surprise.Gary Cohn has long said he opposed the tariffs
0:02:02 > 0:02:07the Trump administration has so vociferously defended. He supports
0:02:07 > 0:02:14free trade, his background, he worked at Goldman sacks, he is a
0:02:14 > 0:02:17Democrat. He says he supports pro-business policies and Diaz
0:02:17 > 0:02:22classed with President Trump on a whole range of issues. They agreed
0:02:22 > 0:02:26on the recently passed tax reform but there was not much common
0:02:26 > 0:02:30ground. When we saw Donald Trump come out this afternoon saying he
0:02:30 > 0:02:35wanted these steel and aluminium tariffs, it seemed like it was a
0:02:35 > 0:02:39done deal that he would have to resign.There have been so many
0:02:39 > 0:02:43disagreements from within his own party as well but we also heard from
0:02:43 > 0:02:49the aluminium industry which is set to benefit from these tariffs,
0:02:49 > 0:02:57opposing the move.An industry trade group said they were deeply
0:02:57 > 0:03:01concerned about the proposed tariffs and they weren't quite sure this was
0:03:01 > 0:03:05the best way to help the American aluminium industry. This comes in
0:03:05 > 0:03:09stark contrast with the US steel industry which is said they support
0:03:09 > 0:03:16the proposal.What are the most aggressive reactions to the tariffs
0:03:16 > 0:03:21has come from Europe. They are meeting today to discuss how to
0:03:21 > 0:03:25respond and the European Commission said its response would be fully
0:03:25 > 0:03:29compatible with WTO rules. It's already drawn up a target list of
0:03:29 > 0:03:42100 US goods worth $3.5 billion in the row has its businesses.
0:03:42 > 0:03:49Electrolux is freezing its US factory investments. The deal to
0:03:49 > 0:03:53take over the production company of Harvey Weinstein has collapsed. It
0:03:53 > 0:03:56is the latest twist in the long-running saga over the future of
0:03:56 > 0:03:59the film studio which is on the brink of bankruptcy. Last week an
0:03:59 > 0:04:06investment group gave the green light on an all women run studio
0:04:06 > 0:04:12that they have abandoned the venture for now. The first fall in sales for
0:04:12 > 0:04:20over a decade for Lego. It saw strong growth in China but it
0:04:20 > 0:04:24struggled in more established markets like North America and
0:04:24 > 0:04:28Europe. The firm has diversify then recent years, moving into
0:04:28 > 0:04:35videogames, a hit movie and amusement parks. Let us turn to the
0:04:35 > 0:04:39fishing in seafood industry in Thailand which is worth around $7
0:04:39 > 0:04:43billion according to the latest estimates. It employs more than
0:04:43 > 0:04:50600,000 people out of which about 300,000 are migrant workers and its
0:04:50 > 0:04:57latest report, the International Labour Organisation, or the ILO,
0:04:57 > 0:05:03said migrant workers were more vulnerable to abuse in the industry.
0:05:03 > 0:05:08Let's get more from Jason Judd from the ILO live from Bangkok. Thank you
0:05:08 > 0:05:15for joining us. Tell us about your findings and stories you might have
0:05:15 > 0:05:23heard from the workers?The ILO, a UN agency, has tracked 435 workers
0:05:23 > 0:05:27in Thailand's seafood and fishing industry is everybody from the boat
0:05:27 > 0:05:35to the processing plant and its big business here in Thailand. We found
0:05:35 > 0:05:41evidence of some progress and some persistent abuses. Evidence of
0:05:41 > 0:05:46progress includes changes in Thai law that means the fuel workers on
0:05:46 > 0:05:50both factories who are under years old. There are high wages for some
0:05:50 > 0:05:56workers in some of these vessels. We see more fishing workers who have a
0:05:56 > 0:06:02written contract, for example. The number was very low in 2014, 9%, and
0:06:02 > 0:06:08the new number was about 40%. That is evidence of improvement. On the
0:06:08 > 0:06:13other side, we see problems with payment of wages. Fishers reported
0:06:13 > 0:06:18that about a quarter of them are not getting all of their pay. Some of it
0:06:18 > 0:06:22is withheld in part in part in an effort to keep them on the boats. A
0:06:22 > 0:06:25third of fishers toll is their passports or other documents are
0:06:25 > 0:06:31kept from them. It means they can't leave when they want to. As tomorrow
0:06:31 > 0:06:35is International women's Day and it will be celebrated here in Thailand,
0:06:35 > 0:06:39we saw the gender pay gap in seafood processing including large factories
0:06:39 > 0:06:44and small. On the whole, we saw that only half of women are paid legal
0:06:44 > 0:06:50minimum wage but the figure for men is 75%.Jason Judd, chief adviser at
0:06:50 > 0:06:57the ILO. After more than a decade of disagreement, Australia and East
0:06:57 > 0:07:01Timor have finally come to an agreement over their maritime border
0:07:01 > 0:07:07in the Timor Sea. The deal could pave the way for major oil and gas
0:07:07 > 0:07:09developments and East Timor desperately needs them to develop
0:07:09 > 0:07:15its economy. For more, I'm joined by Timothy McDonald who has been to the
0:07:15 > 0:07:22country. How significant is this deal for East Timor?This is really
0:07:22 > 0:07:27as big as it gets. We are talking about something that will clear the
0:07:27 > 0:07:31way for development projects which could be worth in the order of $40
0:07:31 > 0:07:37billion. East Timor really does need this revenue. It has other oil and
0:07:37 > 0:07:41gas projects but they are running out but they are responsible for
0:07:41 > 0:07:45funding 90% of the government budgets without it, they could be in
0:07:45 > 0:07:52quite a bit of trouble. On the other hand, what this treaty doesn't do is
0:07:52 > 0:07:58guarantee that those are going to happen. The oil and gas companies
0:07:58 > 0:08:02actually want to know what country they are drilling in, which is fair
0:08:02 > 0:08:05enough. It doesn't guarantee it because there is still a big
0:08:05 > 0:08:09sticking point and that has to do whether they are going to process
0:08:09 > 0:08:13the gas and oil. East Timor wants to do it on shore. The companies don't
0:08:13 > 0:08:18know if they want to do it offshore or in Darwin.Very interesting.
0:08:18 > 0:08:26Thank you. The annual list of the world's richest billionaires, Tim
0:08:26 > 0:08:30and I are not on it but Forbes released the latest list and topping
0:08:30 > 0:08:40it for the first time is this man, the founder and boss of Amazon, Jeff
0:08:40 > 0:08:50Bezos, worth $112 billion. Here in Asia, the founder of WeChat in
0:08:50 > 0:08:56China, which is just crossed the 1 billion accounts mark. He is at
0:08:56 > 0:09:06number 17. And Jack Ma, the Chief Executive of Alibaba came in at
0:09:06 > 0:09:09number 20 but Donald Trump has dropped quite a number of places
0:09:09 > 0:09:19this year.Donald Trump has fallen 2-2 spots, his fortune is down $400
0:09:19 > 0:09:25million and that is primarily due to retail markets in New York city
0:09:25 > 0:09:30being down but it is also in part duty is very polarising personality.
0:09:30 > 0:09:34We've definitely seen some of his licensing and merchandising
0:09:34 > 0:09:39businesses take a hit. You are seeing some places around the world
0:09:39 > 0:09:42take down the Trump name. It's definitely losing a bit of its
0:09:42 > 0:09:48lustre.Let's retake -- recap our top story which is the sudden
0:09:48 > 0:09:54resignation of Gary Cohn and Asian markets are already reacting to his
0:09:54 > 0:10:00resignation. Let's show you the boards. All markets are in the red.
0:10:00 > 0:10:06Also, interestingly, shares in Japan's defence equipment companies
0:10:06 > 0:10:12are lower after tensions on the Korean Peninsula appeared to have
0:10:12 > 0:10:16eased after news of the apparent willingness by North Korea to halt
0:10:16 > 0:10:22nuclear tests. All this after Wall Street had a volatile session all
0:10:22 > 0:10:27because of continued uncertainty over US trade policy. There has been
0:10:27 > 0:10:30some impact on the currency market as well. That