06/04/2017 BBC Business Live

This is Business Live from BBC News, with Jamie Robertson

The President of protocol meets the maverick billionaire businessman

turned president. Can President Xi and Trump gets down to serious

business, will be meeting proved too difficult?

Live from London on Thursday, the 6th of April.

We are going to talk you through what is at stake as the Presidents

of the two biggest economies in the world meet in person for the first

time. Australia's consumer watchdog sues

Apple over claims it misled All of the markets down. It is all

to do with the central bank. And we get the inside track

from the boss of Dulux paint owner, AkzoNobel, on why he's fighting off

a $23 billion hostile takeover. Tonne Buchner also tells us

what the rise of populism in Europe Also in the news, Amazon's Jeff

Bezos says he's selling $1 billion each year,

to get into the space race. Today we're asking,

for your next space holiday, which entrepreneur would you trust

to get you there and back - Richard Branson, Elon

Musk or Jeff Bezos? The world's two biggest economies

come face to face later today, when US President Donald Trump

hosts his Chinese counterpart, It will be the first time they meet

in person. As well as North Korea, trade

will be at the top of the agenda It's already an issue that's created

tensions between the two. At just over $659 billion of goods

and services in 2015, it's one of the biggest trading

relationships in the world. But the big problem Donald Trump

has, is that it's heavily tilted in China's favour,

because the US had a trade Last week, Mr Trump tweeted that

today's meeting "will be a very difficult one,

in that we can no longer have Trump has been outspoken in his

desire to put America first. In terms of what he might do

about it, during his election campaign, Mr Trump floated the idea

of a 45% tariff There have been indications China

would retailate to any such move, and in January, President Xi said

that waging a trade war "will only cause injury and loss to both

sides." Marianne Petsinger,

a geo-economics fellow in the US and the Americas Programme

at Chatham House, is with me. That is a think tank based in

London. Good morning. So much anticipation about this meeting

between the two Presidents. How do you think this will go? I think

expectations have been lowered. This will be a meeting about setting the

trade for future trade discussions. I don't expect any concrete trade

issues to be solved. The missile launched from North Korea

overshadows events. In terms of trade, during the election campaign

itself, Donald Trump saying on day one he will name China a currency

manipulator, he will slap tariffs on goods coming from China into the

United States. As yet we have seen nothing? That is correct. What we

have seen is last week trade orders were signed looking into the trade

deficit. We could say that is potentially targeted at China and

the other one is focused on increasing enforcement of rules.

China is seen as the culprit. In terms of the bigger promises, we

haven't seen them. China has not been named a currency manipulator.

In a couple of days, around April the 15th, the Treasury releases its

biannual report looking into currency manipulation more broadly,

so we could see some developments. Chinese investment in the United

States is interesting. What do you think Trump's view will be? Do they

really want the Chinese taking over their companies? Key administration

positions are saying we don't want that night we want an American

investor, not a Chinese one. There is a fine balance to be struck.

Chinese investment could lead to the creation of jobs in America, which

Trump would be in favour of. On the other hand, security issues may be

dominating the agenda. Do you think overall after this meeting today and

on words, that this is so critical the two leaders believe they do get

on and see eye to eye on the key issues, not least North Korea? Yes,

and both are under great domestic pressure to deliver. Trump still

recovering from the defeat with health care reform. For Xi Jinping,

he is facing the commonest meeting later this year. He has to be

strong. He has to show he is able to build a strong relationship with

him. Marianne, thank you. Needless to say, we will keep your cross at

that meeting goes when it kicks off later today in Florida. I would

imagine all eyes will be on it. Tencent becomes one of the top ten

largest companies in the world, best known for its WeChat

messaging service and gaming, has overtaken Wells Fargo by market

size, and joined the ranks It gained 1.6 % on the news

taking its value to $279 billion. The rest of the top ten is dominated

by US tech firms. A Chinese court orders

Samsung Electronics' mainland subsidiaries to pay almost

$12 million to Huawei Technologies for infringements of smartphone

patents, in the China firm's first legal victory against Samsung

on intellectual property. A spokesman for Huawei said it

welcomed the ruling. Samsung said it will decide

on the response to the court Pepsi pulls an advert featuring

Kendall Jenner, following public outcry and accusations that it

trivialised recent street The advert featured the reality TV

star defusing tension at a protest, by walking to the police line

and handing an officer Now to Australia, where

the country's consumer watchdog is suing Apple over its software

which disabled iPhones and iPads that had been serviced

outside Apple stores The Australian Competition

and Consumer commission says the tech giant violated

the country's consumer law. Very specifically, they alleged it

has made false, misleading or deceptive representations about

consumer rights. What does this actually mean? Lap -- Let me give

you the back story. It all goes back to having one of these, a pretty

ubiquitous iPhone. There will be a software update every now and again

by Apple. Back in 2014, and for several months following, anyone who

had an update, had it repair done to their phone previously. They may

have changed the touch screen. They may have had something called error

53. If they took their phone to an Apple Store in Australia, they would

have been told that unless it had been serviced only by Apple, they

wouldn't update and fixed the phone for free. The consumer watchdogs say

that consumer rights are being breached because Apple was refusing

to carry out a standard duty of care and repair to the phone, on the

basis that someone else had maybe fixed a cracked screen or something

like that. Thank you very much indeed.

Let's look of the markets. They are looking a bit sickly. The Nikkei

down 1.4. The Dow Jones down. And the Hang Seng. A lot of things to

worry about. There is the meeting between Donald Trump and President

Xi. That has got everybody jittery. They simply don't know what is going

to come out of it. The other thing is we had the minutes from the US

central bank yesterday. We will talk about that in more detail in a

second. The worry there is that basically the Federal reserve is

pushing more money out into the economy. More detailed in a second.

Also, we have the European Central Bank head speaking, as we speak. The

markets don't seem to like much of what he is saying. We will talk

about that in more detail just now. Michelle Fleury is in the United

States. Cautious was the mood on Wall Street ahead of the meeting

between leaders of the first and second largest economies in the

world. President Trump will host Xi Jinping at his retreat in Florida.

US officials say the meeting is not scripted. Investors will be keeping

a close eye to see what the to men have to say about North Korea and

trade. Specifically how America's trade deficit with China can be

reduced. Constellation brands reports fourth-quarter results. It

seems we haven't lost our taste for bare -- beer. It is expected to see

continued sales growth in that sector, even as its profit margins

sing. And ahead of Friday's monthly jobs report, an improvement in the

weekly figures of the number of Americans filing for unemployment

benefits. That is Michelle looking ahead to

the day on Wall Street. Joining us is James Quinn, business

editor of the Telegraph Media Group. Lots of issues with central bankers.

Quite a reaction to the Fed yesterday? SNP ended up off. The

FTSE was off about 100 area. People were expecting a little bit more

from the Fed. They talked about getting rid about 4 trillion of

investment in depth. It is selling bonds again? Yes, during the

financial crisis they bought bonds nobody else wanted to buy. The

credit markets were frozen. Now they are going to sell it back into the

markets. No timescale and no value. You had that, you had the Fed

minutes, which had some red Flags that caused markets to wobble. Also

Commons from Paul Ryan about how tough it has been for the Trump

administration to make change. We have not had the economy boosting

reform he promised? That's right. One is tax reform and two is

infrastructure spending. Paul Ryan, the House speaker, said they went

with health care reform first because they thought it was easier

than tax reform. They didn't get health care reform. What about the

European Central Bank due the markets don't seem to be terribly

happy with Marco druggie. -- the word in Frankfurt seems to be he has

given the same speech he has given a couple of times this year. They

sickly, everything is largely fine, I am not going to change my stance.

He said 80% of the sectors across the euro zone area are performing

well. Some caution on the growth side. He is not saying he will do

anything. We were looking for any hints as to whether he would

withdraw from the quantitative easing programme. The euro has

fallen quite a bit this morning. As soon as he started to speak.

Isn't there a feeling around the world we are coming to the end of

that loose, and the money is being withdrawn, the party is over? I

think that is right. There will be some tightening. I think also when

people say -- here Mario Draghi talking, Greece talks on funding

tomorrow. The Italian economy, Spain, Portugal, none of them

performing well. And to major elections, the French election, the

German election. The German election important. Germany doing well, the

rest of Europe not so good. James is coming back. I want you to tell us

who you are going to go to space with. You have also sent us a lot of

thoughts as well. We will read some out later. But so far, most of the

money is on Elon musk. How is Mr Branson doing? He hasn't got anyone

yet! Nobody is voting for him yet. If you are for Richard, get in touch

quick. You're watching Business

Live from BBC News. Still to come, the boss of July is

tells us what he is fighting off a takeover.

First, let's focus on some of the results out in the UK. The Co-op is

back in the red. The Co-Op group is back in the red

today after it's written off it's remaining stake in the struggling

Co-op Bank. It has posted losses of ?132

million. The first loss since 2013. The group had a profitable year.

Theo Leggett joins us. We now know that the Co-op bank is

worth precisely how much? Precisely nil. All of this goes back to 2013

of course, when the Co-op bank came close to collapse, when a ?1.5

billion black hole was found in its accounts. There was also mired in

scandal. That was all very embarrassing for the company. After

that majority stake in the bank was taken up by US investors. The Co-op

group retained 20%, but it hasn't managed to get back on its feet at

its value has been written down over time. A year ago that stake was

worth around ?180 million, now the Co-op says it is worth effectively

nothing, which means that despite the fact the Co-op group has had a

pretty robust year, a rise in like-for-like sales at 2.5% in its

grocery division, its funeral care business is doing reasonably well.

Legal services and so on. Its overall group revenues have risen to

?9.5 billion, but because of that write-off of its stake in the Co-op

bank it has pulled in a loss this year. Nevertheless the group says

that is OK, the recovery plan is working and the rest of the business

is fundamentally sound. Can I ask you a question before you disappear?

Who is your money on, Bezos, Mask or Branson? I am a great fan of Elon

Musk. Anyone who can make electric cars seem sexy. The magic of Mask.

-- Elon Musk. Today was going to be an important day for the lifetime

ISA but it has been snubbed by banks and building societies, many argue

because it way too complicated. Lots of details on the website. Analysis

as well from our personal finance experts.

The leader's of the world's two biggest economies are preparing

Trade is set to top the agenda when America's Donald Trump

Have you seen the residents in Florida, the private residence? You

should see the photos of the inside. Is it more flattering to him to go

there or the White House? It is the summer White House in Donald's view.

The markets are flagging because of the US central bank and the Federal

Reserve as we have mentioned. And now let's get the inside track

on one of the world's biggest The Dutch company, AkzoNobel,

is perhaps best known And it could face a shareholder

revolt if it keeps avoiding That's what the boss of its American

rival, PPG, told Reuters. He also claimed none of AkzoNobel's

biggest shareholders In early March, PPG offered

83 euros per share, valuing the Dutch maker of Dulux

at more than $22 billion. Later in the month,

PPG upped their offer to more than 88 euros a share -

a total deal of $24 billion. But this second offer

was also rebuffed. Dominic O'Connell has been speaking

to AkzoNobel's Chief He began by asking why

he was rejecting PPG's advances. We have occurred both proposals very

carefully, we have taken the boards together, financial advisors, legal

advisors, we looked at it carefully from the perspective of a wide

variety of stakeholders, including shareholders, and we have seen it is

a wholly unacceptable set of proposals. Some of your

shareholders, Causeway capital and Elliott, are very keen to you to

engage. Why would you talk to the American bidder? There are a number

of people who say we understand you are not engaging, we don't see the

downside of it but we respect your decision and then there are a fuel

or so who have been public in saying they would like us to engage and

there are people who are really looking forward to our April 19

investors presentation because they want to see our plan. They have seen

what we have done in the last couple of years may want to know what we

plan on going forward. Are you fearful if you were to fall to a bid

from an American rival like PPG that jobs would be lost in Europe as a

result? There is a general opinion that the proposals essentially

undervalues the company. We also look at issues such as the location

of research and development, the DNA of sustainability that we have and

the issues around our stakeholders that we in the Netherlands have a

due to to take into consideration. We talk about the -- have a duty.

The Labour Party in the Dutch elections, they proposed a foreign

takeover fine. These proposals are very much the response to the

changed atmosphere. There are now things happening in many countries

that save this playing field is not level. We need to do something about

it, we need to make sure that either there is a time being given or there

are different considerations being included. The new Dutch corporate

governance code has very strongly put emphasis on the long-term

strategy, on culture, on creating long-term value, and certainly we as

a company strongly support that. What the next government will do is

not something I will speculate on today. But the underlying message is

that price should not be the only consideration. It is already the

case in the Netherlands that we have the fishery duty to look at

stakeholders so it is clearly not only about pricing. Isn't it

difficult for a company like AkzoNobel to be against this kind of

deal, when you have been doing it for years, you have bought ICI and

lots of companies around the world. So isn't it hypocritical? I think

that is an improper word to use. We have looked very carefully at the

proposals we have received. We have looked at it from a value

perspective, a shareholder in Specter, a stakeholder perspective

and an anti-trust proposal, and we think that these proposals are

wholly inappropriate. That is why we have said clearly now to the

proposals on our table. Going back to the takeover finally, perhaps,

since Theresa May became leader here there has been a lot of debate about

whether it is too easy for companies, foreign companies, to buy

British companies, because of the way the takeover rules work because

of a weaker sterling. Do you accept some of that argument? Is it too

easy in Europe as a whole for foreign bidders to buy your --

British companies? We see in many countries this particular psychology

starting to change that people do feel a bit threatened by the

globalisation. This is the driver of certain populist movements that are

there, it results in certain votes that we have seen in certain

countries. Therefore there is indeed that concern, and a concern that we

all will have to live with. It is a very big concern in the Netherlands

as well. Overall what you see is that the environment we operate in

as companies has significantly changed, because the popular

acceptance of what used to be normal is not there any more. You also say,

it is not a level playing field. You see the Euro is weak, the pound is

weak, the dollar is quite strong and therefore you get some tilting of

the balance and people say that does not really create a level playing

field and I have some understanding of the arguments people use. That

new populist mood could be quite useful to defend yourself against a

hostile bid because you can rely on the support of the people which you

might not have been able to counter in the past. The mood is there, it

is not created by companies. The politics of course are driven by

this mood. It is a fact of life that we will have to deal with, as one of

our very important stakeholders of the world.

That was the CEO of AkzoNobel speaking to Dominic. As promised,

James has returned. Before we talk space, let's just talk about this

other story that caught our attention, it is in the Telegraph

and stop your paper. Theresa may in Saudi talks for London to host

world's biggest share flotation. This is a Ramco. Everyone is wooing

them. Japan were going for it, everyone is keen, New York. $2

trillion, whoever gets it will be, that city will have the prestige and

everything that goes with it. I think it is down to New York and

London now. Is that the reason she is there do you think, the real

reason? I think it was one of the reasons, she was in Saudi and Jordan

had three days, the only Chief Executive was the boss of the London

stock exchange to have a beating with her. That has to be one of the

reasons. It would be wonderful for London to get it. Let's talk space.

Who would you go into space with, if you will have to choose one of the

entrepreneurs? As many people have suggested, I would rather go Nasa

with their track record, as opposed to someone who has only been at it.

Richard Branson has been going at this since 2004, the launch date has

moved on many times. I saw him in Seattle last week, and he said

hoping to get away next year with himself and real paying passengers.

Let's go with what the viewers think. They are with Elon Musk. And

Nasa. And they like the fact that Elon Musk is working with Nasa.

Nobody is going for Bezos. And no one going for Branson. Of the small

poll we have conducted! Maybe you get free Amazon Prime as well! That

is it from Business Live, goodbye.