:00:00. > :00:15.Now it's time for World Business Report.
:00:16. > :00:24.The White House tells Mexico and Canada it won't cancel
:00:25. > :00:25.the North American Free Trade Agreement,
:00:26. > :00:43.Italy's flag carrier battles to stay in the sky as its rescuer pulls
:00:44. > :00:56.Also coming up, raking it in, but are they worth it?
:00:57. > :00:58.Top bosses face their shareholders amid growing concern over excessive
:00:59. > :01:05.We start with President Trump, because once again he's taken
:01:06. > :01:13.The White House has confirmed it has told the leaders of Canada
:01:14. > :01:16.and Mexico they won't be scrapping the North American Free Trade
:01:17. > :01:23.But instead they will seek to renegotiate the terms of it.
:01:24. > :01:30.That has sent the Canadian Dollar and Mexican Peso soaring.
:01:31. > :01:33.President Trump has repeatedly vowed to pull out from the 23-year-old
:01:34. > :01:39.trade pact with the two neighbouring countries,
:01:40. > :01:43.calling it 'the worst trade deal in history'.
:01:44. > :01:46.He already used an executive order on Jan 23 to pull out of the huge
:01:47. > :01:49.Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal.
:01:50. > :01:55.Financial markets were worried he was about to do the same
:01:56. > :01:57.with Nafta, with huge implications for industries from agriculture
:01:58. > :02:08.The news is moving the currency markets, both the Mexican Peso
:02:09. > :02:12.Rico Hizon is looking at this in Singapore.
:02:13. > :02:25.We don't have a lot of time, but what sort of games are we talking
:02:26. > :02:29.about? -- gains. We are seeing it moved drastically, there was a plan
:02:30. > :02:32.to pull out of the Nafta agreement but there has now been a change of
:02:33. > :02:38.heart. According to analysts, disruption in trade could create
:02:39. > :02:46.chaos in the auto sector and other industries, impacting profits for
:02:47. > :02:53.companies. Mexico's low Labour costs could also be affected. They are
:02:54. > :03:00.taking this renegotiating process, they are taking it seriously. The
:03:01. > :03:07.Mexican peso and Canadian dollar have soared. Trade watchers have
:03:08. > :03:14.said that Nafta could be expanded to cover issues that did not exist when
:03:15. > :03:20.it was created, such as e-commerce. With this renegotiation process,
:03:21. > :03:24.trade watchers are asking about the Trans-Pacific Partnership. That
:03:25. > :03:30.could be renegotiated after the US pulled out several months ago. Thank
:03:31. > :03:31.you for that. We will talk to you again soon.
:03:32. > :03:34.Marco Lopez is an International trade consultant and he joins us now
:03:35. > :03:39.from Hermosillo in the Sonora state of Mexico.
:03:40. > :03:49.Another surprise for all of us, I guess from where you are sitting,
:03:50. > :03:54.this is a very good surprise? A very good surprise indeed. We have been
:03:55. > :04:00.saying it is very difficult to try and go out and kill 6 million jobs
:04:01. > :04:05.that rely on American free trade, which was exactly what he was
:04:06. > :04:14.proposing. So, good news for those American workers, 6 million that are
:04:15. > :04:18.-- that depend on trade with Mexico. I think he has figured out that it
:04:19. > :04:23.is a lot more difficult to govern than it is to campaign. This is a
:04:24. > :04:28.sign for everyone in all of those industries, especially the auto
:04:29. > :04:32.industry, agriculture, e-commerce, industries that depend on keeping
:04:33. > :04:40.the relationship between the US, Mexico and Canada alive and well,
:04:41. > :04:46.it's a sign that things will get better. From the Mexico side of
:04:47. > :04:51.things, does Mexico think it needs to be renegotiated? I am wondering
:04:52. > :04:56.where they would try to renegotiate it? I think that after all the
:04:57. > :05:02.criticism that came from President Trump, and with my experience as
:05:03. > :05:07.director of the Department of commerce in the state of Arizona,
:05:08. > :05:12.you realise that there are things that occur throughout a period of 25
:05:13. > :05:18.years that do need to be looked at. E-commerce is one. Energy, trade
:05:19. > :05:24.facilitation is a second. There are things in the agricultural space
:05:25. > :05:27.that might need to be strengthened. It is at least important to have
:05:28. > :05:33.that conversation. I think we are getting to that place. Even Congress
:05:34. > :05:37.is literally having to vote on any adjustments enacted before the
:05:38. > :05:42.midterms next year. So, this could be a very long process. We do
:05:43. > :05:49.exactly what shape it will take, but will not be easy. Indeed it won't
:05:50. > :05:50.be. But thank you so much for joining us.
:05:51. > :05:53.Let's return to London where spring is in the air,
:05:54. > :05:56.and that means it's the season for AGMs,
:05:57. > :05:57.Annual General Meetings, where top companies have
:05:58. > :06:05.Top of the list of concerns for investors, how much bosses get
:06:06. > :06:11.Let's give you an idea of the sums we are talking about.
:06:12. > :06:12.Pharmaceutical giant Astrazeneca holds its annual
:06:13. > :06:18.The CEO saw his overall pay jump 68% last year to more than $17 million.
:06:19. > :06:20.And that's after his annual bonus was halved!
:06:21. > :06:28.So there could be some grumbling there.
:06:29. > :06:31.Consumer goods maker Unilever is also meeting its shareholders.
:06:32. > :06:35.They will be voting on changes to the way its bosses are paid,
:06:36. > :06:39.making more of it in shares as a performance incentive.
:06:40. > :06:43.Unilever's CEO made 8.4 million euros last year.
:06:44. > :06:47.That was down 20% on 2015, but a lot of the fall is down
:06:48. > :06:50.to the weak pound, his pay is set in sterling but paid
:06:51. > :06:58.Tomorrow could be the big one, when global banking giant
:06:59. > :07:04.CEO Stuart Gulliver has seen his potential pay soar,
:07:05. > :07:13.Excessive CEO pay has become a big political issue here in the UK.
:07:14. > :07:16.The government has proposed reforms including giving shareholders more
:07:17. > :07:19.control over what top executives get paid.
:07:20. > :07:22.Here's what Prime Minister Theresa May said at the annual conference
:07:23. > :07:28.of the bosses organisation, the CBI, last November.
:07:29. > :07:32.The behaviour of a limited few has damaged the reputation of the many.
:07:33. > :07:37.And fair or not, it is clear that something has to change.
:07:38. > :07:40.For when a small minority of businesses and business figures
:07:41. > :07:43.appear to game the system and work to a different set of rules,
:07:44. > :07:46.we have to recognise that the social contract between business
:07:47. > :07:48.and society fails, and the reputation of business
:07:49. > :08:06.Theresa May speaking in November. Great for you to come in at this
:08:07. > :08:12.horrible time of mourning. This is becoming a huge political issue, and
:08:13. > :08:19.also a moral issue. I am all for, work hard, be rewarded. But when
:08:20. > :08:23.bosses are being paid nearly 140 times more than the average worker,
:08:24. > :08:28.it leaves a bad taste in your mouse? It does. That is why it is such a
:08:29. > :08:35.hot political issue. At the end of the day, millions of ordinary people
:08:36. > :08:41.in the UK and around the world, who are paid very modest earnings and
:08:42. > :08:44.have seen very modest pay rises, are paying into pension schemes and
:08:45. > :08:51.retirement system is that, buy the shares in the companies and what
:08:52. > :08:59.losses are getting, they are getting a 68% pay rise. This is a company
:09:00. > :09:05.that is facing a profit warning around some of its products. That's
:09:06. > :09:11.why this is such a hot issue. This has been rumbling on year after
:09:12. > :09:17.year. What we are seeing is a lot more melodrama than action. Why and
:09:18. > :09:26.investors being more vocal and aggressive about this? Investors are
:09:27. > :09:34.in on the same games to a large extent. Working people hand our
:09:35. > :09:38.retirement savings over two companies whose bosses are in on the
:09:39. > :09:45.same tricks. It's a very big challenge about, who have we put in
:09:46. > :09:51.charge of controlling this problem? Talking about being in charge,
:09:52. > :09:55.Theresa May, she is trying to make a big push. We have the general
:09:56. > :10:00.election, I imagine this is going to be a big focus? Some would be asking
:10:01. > :10:04.why we aren't more like Germany, where a representative for workers
:10:05. > :10:09.is on the board so they get is a straightaway? There was a proposal
:10:10. > :10:14.from Theresa May to put workers on boards but she backtracked on it. We
:10:15. > :10:18.will see what happens. I think the government is serious about reforms
:10:19. > :10:23.on this. I think we need to focus on holding accountable by large,
:10:24. > :10:30.institutional shareholders to whom we hand control of the vote for the
:10:31. > :10:35.cast on pay. One thing to watch out for this season is that this is a
:10:36. > :10:44.season in the UK where we will see a lot of winding, three-year votes on
:10:45. > :10:58.pay policy. A big controversy last year was the pay of the BP CEO. This
:10:59. > :11:04.year, the company has changed its structure, as has Shell. What we are
:11:05. > :11:08.saying is that shareholders should take a tough line on the three-year
:11:09. > :11:13.binding vote. I think we will be talking about this for the next
:11:14. > :11:17.three... We do have to wrap it up unfortunately. That is the issue,
:11:18. > :11:24.being more aggressive. We want shareholders taking a tough line on
:11:25. > :11:27.behalf of all of us. I wish we had more time. Thank you.
:11:28. > :11:30.We are also looking at Italy's flag carrier airline Alitalia.
:11:31. > :11:32.Its shareholders are meeting to discuss starting bankruptcy
:11:33. > :11:35.proceedings after labour unions voted to reject a cost-cutting plan.
:11:36. > :11:39.Alitalia's investors, including the Gulf airline Etihad,
:11:40. > :11:42.have reacted to the vote by cancelling a $2.2 billion dollar
:11:43. > :11:46.cash injection, which the airline was relying on to secure its future.
:11:47. > :11:58.Alitalia is the sick man of the skies. It loses hundreds of millions
:11:59. > :12:05.of dollars a year. In 2015, desperate for cash, it sold 49% of
:12:06. > :12:11.its shares to Etihad Airways. That company offered to inject $2.2
:12:12. > :12:17.billion to fund Alitalia's recovery. A key condition was for Alitalia to
:12:18. > :12:26.cut costs. The airline's plan was to lay off 1700 staff. Cut wages by 8%.
:12:27. > :12:29.And cut its fleet size. But union members voted to reject these
:12:30. > :12:35.measures, the Etihad Airways has taken its money off the table. Now,
:12:36. > :12:38.Alitalia is planning to appoint an administrator to decide whether the
:12:39. > :12:42.airline can be said, or whether it should be wound up. The Italian
:12:43. > :12:46.government says it will give Alitalia a bridging loan so it can
:12:47. > :12:49.continue to operate for the next few months.
:12:50. > :12:57.There you go full. Can follow me on Twitter, I'll be back later to take
:12:58. > :13:04.a look at the papers from around the world with James.
:13:05. > :13:08.A simple eye test could lead to much earlier detection of a condition
:13:09. > :13:10.which causes irreversible sight loss, according to researchers
:13:11. > :13:13.Diagnosing glaucoma sooner would mean patients could start
:13:14. > :13:15.treatment before their vision deteriorates.