14/11/2017 Business Briefing

This is Business Briefing,

I'm Sally Bundock.

The Art of the Deal.

Trump's team says the US has struck

$300 billion worth of trade

and investment deals

during his Asian trip.

We investigate.

And President Trump's determination

to slash regulations for US business

is alarming many who worry

about pollution and public health.

And on the markets in Asia today,

shares fluctuate, a day

after Japan's main market

saw its biggest drop since April.

Five countries, nearly

two weeks, and billions

of dollars in deal-making.

Well, that is the line

from the White House and host

nations, as President Trump's

mammoth tour of Asia draws

to a close.

After all, the President

is known to be a deal-maker.

So much so, in fact,

that he has promised a major

statement on trade before

he arrives back in Washington.

That means the clock is ticking.

The White House is touting

the rather whopping figure of $300

billion in deals during

the President's swing

through the region.

The lion's share of that came

during his trip to China.

South Korea, Japan, and Vietnam make

up the remaining $50 billion-odd.

Mr Trump is still in

the Philippines, so we will hold off

on that figure.

But this is business,

and you have to pay attention

to the fine print.

So dig a little deeper,

and you will see that some of these

are memoranda of understanding,

MoUs, so more promises of agreements

to come, or they are deals that had

already been in the works for months

or even years.

All will need official approval.

With me is Professor Rajneesh

Narula, the John H Dunning chair

of international business

at Henley Business School.

What is your interpretation of the

deals done?

Well, I think it is

public relations, really. These

deals were going to happen anyway,

and Trump's trip is just a bit of

icing on the cake, just to show that

he has done something. About $50

billion of the Chinese deal comes

from aircraft, from Boeing aircraft.

Another $40 billion is helicopters,

and that sort of thing. So these

things were going to go on anyway,

and there are short-term victories,

which is what Trump seems to

specialise in. There isn't anything

that is really long-term. There is a

big investment by JD, I think, in a

beef factory in Montana, but apart

from that, I don't think there is

much that wouldn't have happened

anyway.

In terms of trade between

the US and countries in that part of

the world, what was achieved from

that point of view? Of course, the

United States removed itself from

the transpacific partnership. Talk

us through the trade deals from that

point of view.

That is the big news

from the trip. Trump's thunder was

stolen, as it were, by Trudeau, who

announced that they were going to

more or less edge on with the

transpacific partnership, rebranded

as a copper offensive and

progressive... It is in the title,

actually, those words --

comprehensive and progressive. They

will sign it by the new year.

So the

US is missing out on that. During

his speeches, I remember his speech

in Beijing, he was talking about the

fact that we will look after

ourselves, we expect you to look

after yourselves, but we want to

talk bilateral trade. And he has

talked a lot about the Indo Pacific.

He is pivoting towards India, trying

to reduce China's influence.

Yes,

the thing is, bilateral agreements

are a relic from the 1970s and

1980s. Ever since we have had the

WTO, the big focus has been on

making trade similar for large

groups of trade simpler for large

groups of countries. Trump is trying

to destroy Nafta. He seems to have

something against multilateral

agreements, but that is the way it

of the future. Even China has its

own One Belt, One Road programme,

saying we are the ones who are the

staple superpower and want to play

with everyone. And they make Trump

look bad.

The Chinese economy is starting

to cool, and a slew of economic data

out earlier today confirms it.

Sharanjit Leyl has been

crunching the numbers.

Quite a few numbers to crunch,

actually, because industrial output

growing slower than expected, 6.2%

in October according to the National

bureau of statistics. Retail sales

was also out and claimed a slower

than expected 10% in October from

last year. I hear you say that is a

fairly decent number, but what is

interesting is, of course, in

industrial output the slowdown is

prompted by slowing property and

construction activity, and that is

two of the main growth drivers hit

by borrowing costs as well as

government measures to try and cool

a heated housing market and curb

industrial pollution, a massive

problem in China's major cities.

After this data we saw Chinese

stocks which had been at the two

year high, they actually retreated

from that two year high, following

the date. We saw a broader measure

money supply unveiled yesterday

after closed -- following that data.

All of this is starting to suggest

that China's economy is slowing

because of these measures the

government have put in place, though

nonetheless they are still targeting

annual economic growth of around

6.5% this year. Thank you for that

summary, in Singapore.

President Trump's pick

for head of chemical safety,

Dr Michael Dourson, has spent much

of his career helping businesses

fight red tape on the use

of potentially toxic compounds

in everyday goods.

The town of Hoosick Falls in upstate

New York has seen its water supply

contaminated with chemicals,

and people living there

are concerned at the prospect

of Dr Dourson taking up the role.

Michelle Fleury has the story.

This water looks safe to drink. But,

until recently, it wasn't. Emily and

her daughter Gwen have an incredibly

high level of total of the No Loc

acid, -- perfluoro acid.

There were

no words for how I felt as a mother

and a person, I felt violated.

Emily

moved her family away from a

chemical plant near her old home

that cause the contamination.

I get

that worse things happen around the

world, but never in a million years

did I think that living in the

United States of America I would

have to go to a dark, cold, dingy

basement to pick up water for my

family.

Hoosick Falls is a small

town on the border of New York and

Vermont. For decades the region was

home to plastic factories that used

perfluorononanoic acid. It wasn't

until 2016 that the local water

supplies received filtration

systems. And the fight for clean

water continues all the way to

Washington, where some Hoosick Falls

residents travelled to make clear

their objection to the nomination of

Michael Dourson, Donald Trump's pick

to become the country's top chemical

regulator. Michael Hickey began the

fight to test Hoosick Falls's water

for chemicals after his father died

of kidney cancer. He made the trip

to Washington recently to speak out

against Michael Dourson's

nomination.

The is the guy that big

companies will bring in to defend

them. He is not working for people.

He is working for big business.

In

the past, Michael Dourson has

advocated for chemical safety levels

much higher than is now considered

acceptable, at his nomination shows

a pattern emerging under the Trump

administration.

What we are broadly

seeing happen across the Federal

Government is that the formerly

regulated parties are becoming the

regulators themselves.

The agency

where Dourson will serve as

prioritising reducing what the

President Coles job killing

regulations. In Hoosick Falls, Emily

is considering the cost of that as

she looks for assurances that the

water in her home is safe for her

family.

Now let's brief you some other

business stories: A judge in Brazil

has ordered a homicide lawsuit

against the executives of mining

company Samarco to resume.

21 people who worked for the company

are accused of being responsible

for the collapse of a dam, in 2015,

that led to the deaths of 19 people.

Shares of Barbie toymaker Mattel

have jumped by 20% on reports rival

toy giant Hasbro is

considering a takeover.

Hasbro, whose brands include

Play-Doh and My Little Pony,

are also higher.

Last month shares in both companies

fell, after a warning

that the bankruptcy of retailer

Toys"R"Us could hurt sales.

Goldman Sachs has written down

to zero the value of its stake

in the Weinstein Company.

The move comes as the Weinstein

Company looks for fresh financing,

after more than 50 women claimed

that ex-chairman Harvey Weinstein

sexually harassed or assaulted them

over the past three decades.

Weinstein has denied having

non-consensual sex with anyone.

And now, what is trending

in the business news this morning?

The markets ending with US shares...

We haven't got it here, but the Dow

up slightly at the close on Monday.

The news briefing is here in a

moment.