0:00:13 > 0:00:14This is Business Briefing.
0:00:14 > 0:00:16I'm Ben Bland.
0:00:16 > 0:00:21Tesla unleashes the Beast.
0:00:21 > 0:00:23But will the electric truck transform road transport,
0:00:23 > 0:00:27or prove too heavy a load for the company?
0:00:27 > 0:00:32Plus - tax relief for President Trump,
0:00:32 > 0:00:35as his $1.5 trillion reform plan clears the House of Representatives.
0:00:35 > 0:00:40But it could be short lived as the debate moves to the Senate.
0:00:40 > 0:00:42And on the markets: Asian markets have built
0:00:42 > 0:00:45on the previous day's gains.
0:00:45 > 0:00:48They head into the weekend on a positive note, as traders
0:00:48 > 0:00:52were buoyed by news from the US that Donald Trump's tax cuts have moved
0:00:52 > 0:00:52a step closer.
0:00:53 > 0:00:58We'll take a look at that and the other market moves later.
0:01:14 > 0:01:20As a mentioned, it has proved positive for the markets. President
0:01:20 > 0:01:24Trump's plans for the biggest shakeup of the country's tax system
0:01:24 > 0:01:30since the 1980s took a step further on Thursday.
0:01:30 > 0:01:33The House Representatives voted to pass a broad package of tax
0:01:33 > 0:01:34reforms being pushed by the President.
0:01:34 > 0:01:37He says they will boost the US economy, but critics
0:01:37 > 0:01:40on the Democrat side call them a give-away to big business
0:01:40 > 0:01:41and the wealthy.
0:01:41 > 0:01:45Some Republicans are also concerned about the cost,
0:01:45 > 0:01:47almost $1.5 trillion.
0:01:47 > 0:01:50Well, the debate now moves to the Senate,
0:01:50 > 0:01:52where the Republicans have just a narrow majority.
0:01:52 > 0:01:57The BBC's Samira Hussain explains.
0:01:57 > 0:02:03Taxes. Americans don't like paying them and most agree that the tax
0:02:03 > 0:02:07system is broken, but fixing it, well, that's not easy. The president
0:02:07 > 0:02:13says he wants a tax code that so simple you could fire lit on a
0:02:13 > 0:02:17postcard. The Republican Party has control of the US Congress, which
0:02:17 > 0:02:21means they could pass a new tax plan with just a simple majority.If
0:02:21 > 0:02:26there's anything that unifies Republicans its tax reform. We've
0:02:26 > 0:02:30been looking for the opportunity to do this literally for years.The
0:02:30 > 0:02:33problem? Republicans can't even agree on a tax plan among
0:02:33 > 0:02:38themselves. Lawmakers in the house want to cut the number of tax
0:02:38 > 0:02:42records to four and cut out just how much people can write off for having
0:02:42 > 0:02:47a mortgage. The Senate plan removes the tax Americans pay if they don't
0:02:47 > 0:02:51buy health insurance. That means some 13 million Americans could end
0:02:51 > 0:02:59up without any coverage. That plan also means cut to the local tax rate
0:02:59 > 0:03:03permanently. The tax rate for individuals is temporary. So what do
0:03:03 > 0:03:09they do now? Republicans in the House and Senate will have to
0:03:09 > 0:03:12combine their plans. But if the last few months are any indication, that
0:03:12 > 0:03:18won't be easy. One place that will be watching the fight really closely
0:03:18 > 0:03:24is the US stock market. It goes up when tax reform might actually
0:03:24 > 0:03:28happen and falls when those plans hit a roadblock. So if President
0:03:28 > 0:03:33Trump wants to keep dragging about the rise of the stock market...It
0:03:33 > 0:03:37hit an all-time record high today, over 20 2000.And keep his promise
0:03:37 > 0:03:45to supporters, his party is going to be some -- to have to come to some
0:03:45 > 0:03:53sort of agreement. Switching to the west coast now.
0:03:53 > 0:03:57In the last hour or so electric car maker Tesla has unveiled
0:03:57 > 0:03:57its latest venture.
0:03:57 > 0:04:00Founder Elon Musk hopes to take on the road transport business
0:04:00 > 0:04:04as he has the car industry, with this - an electric powered
0:04:04 > 0:04:08big-rig truck it calls the Tesla Semi.
0:04:08 > 0:04:11There it is in the darkness.
0:04:11 > 0:04:15It has four electric motors, one for each rear wheel.
0:04:15 > 0:04:19Mr Musk says it has a range of 500 miles when it's fully laden
0:04:19 > 0:04:20at highway speed.
0:04:20 > 0:04:24He says a 30 minute charge will give it a range of 400 miles.
0:04:24 > 0:04:26Range will be a big concern for truckers,
0:04:26 > 0:04:30who can get as much as 1,000 miles out of a full tank of diesel.
0:04:30 > 0:04:31Then there's the cost.
0:04:31 > 0:04:34We don't have a price yet, but reports say the batteries alone
0:04:34 > 0:04:35cost $100,000,
0:04:35 > 0:04:37making this a much more expensive proposition.
0:04:37 > 0:04:41But Mr Musk says it will work out 20% cheaper per mile to run
0:04:41 > 0:04:44than a diesel truck.
0:04:44 > 0:04:47Michael Coren is Technology Reporter for the online news service Quartz.
0:04:47 > 0:04:50He joins me via webcam from San Francisco.
0:04:50 > 0:04:55Good to see you. You are an expert on these matters. What is your
0:04:55 > 0:05:02verdict on what you see?Well, Elon likes to surprise and always
0:05:02 > 0:05:05overpromise and sometimes overdeliver and I think this time he
0:05:05 > 0:05:10did, in terms of the milage no one expected 500. They also didn't
0:05:10 > 0:05:14expect a 30 minute charge. So that was quite a surprise. And the fact
0:05:14 > 0:05:18that he's got the price down 20% less than the average diesel, which
0:05:18 > 0:05:25remains to be seen on the field, would be pretty significant.This
0:05:25 > 0:05:29design is very sleek, probably the nicest looking truck that anyone has
0:05:29 > 0:05:33seen on the road. But is that really where the focus should be, given
0:05:33 > 0:05:38that people who should be buying them, the companies, would be more
0:05:38 > 0:05:43worried about the cost? And if the batteries are $100,000 alone it will
0:05:43 > 0:05:47be incredibly expensive.Right. This is an incredibly low market
0:05:47 > 0:05:55business, maybe 5%. So what you are looking for our lifetime cost. Can
0:05:55 > 0:05:59Tesla essentially bring down the costs over the five - six years, or
0:05:59 > 0:06:07even longer. A sleek truck is not going to impress a fleet owner with
0:06:07 > 0:06:11a few thousand of these. What will make the difference is that few
0:06:11 > 0:06:15pennies for mile that he can save for some of these owners and that
0:06:15 > 0:06:21remains to be seen, if they can pull that off.You mentioned Elon Musk's
0:06:21 > 0:06:25tendency to throw in a surprise and this was about unleashing the beast,
0:06:25 > 0:06:29as he calls it, but he also unleashed the beast's little
0:06:29 > 0:06:34brother, little sister, a little roadster.That was the original
0:06:34 > 0:06:41Tesla car. This was the first product that Tesla sold. They've
0:06:41 > 0:06:47been promising that he would read release it. -- rerelease. They are
0:06:47 > 0:06:55already going through getting the model out, so this could be more
0:06:55 > 0:07:02marketing or it could be another part to the industry. We'll see.OK,
0:07:02 > 0:07:11thanks very much indeed. Over to Singapore now.
0:07:11 > 0:07:17It seen a huge jump in exports and that's Bose -- roads well for the
0:07:17 > 0:07:19economy.
0:07:19 > 0:07:23Mariko Oi is looking at the story for us.
0:07:23 > 0:07:27As you mentioned, a huge jump in exports in October. In fact, the
0:07:27 > 0:07:34biggest jump in 2.5 years, after a surprising contraction in September.
0:07:34 > 0:07:39I think economies are looking at last month's figure as a 1-off blip
0:07:39 > 0:07:42and this is definitely good news, especially because shipments to
0:07:42 > 0:07:48China actually jumped by more than 50%. That basically means of course
0:07:48 > 0:07:52China is Singapore's big as trading partner and it's a key trading
0:07:52 > 0:07:59partner for many Asian economies and that means demand from China for
0:07:59 > 0:08:02those products remain strong. Electronic exports remained wicked
0:08:02 > 0:08:06and some other products. Some economies are slightly sceptical
0:08:06 > 0:08:16about that. -- remained weak.Let me brief you on other business stories.
0:08:16 > 0:08:18There have been more takeover approaches for media giant
0:08:18 > 0:08:1921st Century Fox.
0:08:19 > 0:08:21According to reports Comcast, owner of NBC Universal
0:08:21 > 0:08:24and the biggest cable TV operator in the US,
0:08:24 > 0:08:25has expressed interest in buying assets,
0:08:26 > 0:08:27as has Verizon Communications.
0:08:27 > 0:08:30Last week it emerged that Walt Disney had held talks with Fox.
0:08:30 > 0:08:33Media companies are looking at mergers as more people ditch
0:08:33 > 0:08:35cable in favour of streaming services like Netflix.
0:08:35 > 0:08:38Norway's government has been told its massive state-run fund
0:08:38 > 0:08:42should drop its investments in oil and gas stocks.
0:08:42 > 0:08:45Norges Bank manages Norway's $1 trillion sovereign wealth fund
0:08:45 > 0:08:47on behalf of the government.
0:08:47 > 0:08:50It said the step would make the country "less vulnerable
0:08:50 > 0:08:53to a permanent drop in oil and gas prices".
0:08:53 > 0:08:59Norway is Western Europe's biggest oil and gas producer.
0:08:59 > 0:09:02German industrial group Siemens has announced plans to cut around 6,900
0:09:02 > 0:09:04jobs worldwide, mostly in its fossil fuels division.
0:09:04 > 0:09:07It said global demand for large turbines produced by its power
0:09:07 > 0:09:10and gas division had fallen dramatically.
0:09:10 > 0:09:13Half of the jobs will be lost in Germany, while 1,100 will go
0:09:14 > 0:09:19in the rest of Europe and 1,800 in the US.
0:09:28 > 0:09:31And now, what's trending in the business news this morning.
0:09:31 > 0:09:34Forbes is among those reporting that Bitcoin reached an all-time high
0:09:34 > 0:09:36on Thursday, surpassing $7,800 for the first time,
0:09:36 > 0:09:41despite the sharp fall at the beginning of the week.
0:09:41 > 0:09:47The Economist magazine says we are facing a bitcoin "bubble".
0:09:47 > 0:09:49In the Financial Times, Japan business group chief calls
0:09:49 > 0:09:50for more foreign workers.
0:09:50 > 0:09:53The head of the country's Chamber of Commerce says companies
0:09:53 > 0:09:59are blaming poor performance on lack of skilled workers.
0:09:59 > 0:10:01From Bloomberg, UK Seeks help from German business
0:10:01 > 0:10:02for Brexit trade deal.
0:10:02 > 0:10:05It reports how Brexit Secretary David Davis has asked business
0:10:05 > 0:10:08leaders in Germany to help force the pace in the deadlocked
0:10:08 > 0:10:16negotiations.
0:10:16 > 0:10:23Don't forget, you can get in touch with us via the hashtag
0:10:23 > 0:10:29bbc-the-briefing. That's almost it. Before we go, a look at the markets.
0:10:29 > 0:10:36Asian shares rose on Friday. Strong US earnings. That brightened the
0:10:36 > 0:10:39mood, even though investors noted that many more hurdles must be
0:10:39 > 0:10:45passed to reach a final deal on the tax cuts. The end of the week saw
0:10:45 > 0:10:49heavy selling, fuelled by profit-taking and dealers' worries
0:10:49 > 0:10:55that may be a rally in recent weeks had gone too far, pushing about --
0:10:55 > 0:10:59evaluations to hire.
0:10:59 > 0:11:03-- too high.