:00:00. > :00:14.Now it's time for World Business Report.
:00:15. > :00:24.Turning up the heat - Qatar's credit rating is cut
:00:25. > :00:28.Plus - he's cut ties with his business empire
:00:29. > :00:31.but a lawsuit claims President Trump is still flouting
:00:32. > :00:48.Also coming up - China's trade figures surge in May,
:00:49. > :00:51.they are surging, cheering investors but spelling more controversy
:00:52. > :01:14.Concerns are growing about economic fallout after fellow Arab states cut
:01:15. > :01:17.ties with Qatar over their links with alleged terrorist groups.
:01:18. > :01:23.Standard and Poor's has cut their rating, the stock market is down 10%
:01:24. > :01:25.in the currency is at 11- year low. Qatar is a tiny nation but a very
:01:26. > :01:29.important one business terms. It has one of the world's largest
:01:30. > :01:35.reserves of natural gas - it has seen exports of its liquefied
:01:36. > :01:38.natural gas or LNG soar That's made the state
:01:39. > :01:41.phenomenally wealthy - it has built up one of the world's
:01:42. > :01:46.biggest sovereign wealth funds, It's used that money to buy
:01:47. > :01:53.assets across the globe. They range from Paris
:01:54. > :01:55.Saint-Germain Football Club, in Volkswagen, Russian oil giant
:01:56. > :02:00.Rosneft and commodities trader Not to mention millions of square
:02:01. > :02:10.metres of London including the Shard The success of Qatar Airways has
:02:11. > :02:17.made it a major aviation hub. But more than 50 flights
:02:18. > :02:21.a day have been grounded And it's a huge employer
:02:22. > :02:31.of migrant workers - many of whom are working on stadiums
:02:32. > :02:34.for the 2022 World Cup. Families from India
:02:35. > :02:36.to the Philippines depend There are half a million workers
:02:37. > :02:42.from India alone in Qatar. So how serious could
:02:43. > :02:54.the economic impact be? Joining us now, Laura James,
:02:55. > :03:08.senior Middle East analyst Give us an idea of how important it
:03:09. > :03:14.is that this is solved quickly. It's important. The most obvious is food
:03:15. > :03:24.imports. Qatar is completely food independent. Around 10%, especially
:03:25. > :03:32.most of the dairy and more of it is shipped through ports controlled by
:03:33. > :03:43.Dubai, for example. If we then lurk at the impact on the air sector. In
:03:44. > :03:47.advance of the 2022 World Cup. If we look at how migrant workers will be
:03:48. > :03:54.affected. It's an extremely serious impact. For those reasons alone, do
:03:55. > :03:58.you think Qatar will have to give ground here? At the moment, it is
:03:59. > :04:05.not doing so. It's a question of who is going blink first. It is. Saudi
:04:06. > :04:09.Arabia and the United Arab Emirates and Egypt are throwing everything
:04:10. > :04:14.they can as this, forcing Qatar to concede quickly. Political and
:04:15. > :04:18.economic pressure is being piled on. There has never been a break like
:04:19. > :04:24.this in the Gulf. There was a crisis in 2014 which was nothing like this.
:04:25. > :04:30.They want them to concede quickly. Qatar at the moment has decided not
:04:31. > :04:33.to fight back. For example, they are still sending gas through the
:04:34. > :04:38.Dolphin pipeline to the United Arab Emirates. The sovereign wealth fund
:04:39. > :04:41.has not taken any action on redeploying assets. They've not
:04:42. > :04:45.expelled any citizens of other Gulf countries or the hundreds of
:04:46. > :04:49.thousands of Egyptian migrant workers who are in Qatar. If they
:04:50. > :04:54.decided to fight back, there would be a 2- way impact on the other
:04:55. > :05:01.countries want to avoid this, they want to click concession. If it does
:05:02. > :05:05.escalate in Qatar decides to fight back, what the implications? Your
:05:06. > :05:09.Mac there is a real break in the Gulf. Other countries must take
:05:10. > :05:15.sides. For example, shipping lines would have to do is -- shipping
:05:16. > :05:20.lines would have to decide if they brought cargo into Doha or into the
:05:21. > :05:25.UAE. They may -- they might not allowed to do both. Given the Gulf
:05:26. > :05:31.Cooperation Council has spent the last several decades trying to
:05:32. > :05:34.improve economic integration, plenty of Gulf citizens intermarry and live
:05:35. > :05:39.in each other's countries, this really affects the world economy. We
:05:40. > :05:44.appreciate your time and analysis. Something we will discuss a bit
:05:45. > :05:46.further as well when we look at how some of the newspapers in the region
:05:47. > :05:46.are commentating. To Asia now where there's news that
:05:47. > :05:49.China's economy is doing Exports and imports were up
:05:50. > :06:08.strongly last month, More good news out of China.
:06:09. > :06:12.That's right, the -- keeping our fingers crossed the economy might be
:06:13. > :06:20.turning a corner, this could be sustained in the following months
:06:21. > :06:24.but exports rising, imports up 50%, and that that the country with a
:06:25. > :06:32.trade surplus of around $41 billion for the month. Boosting exports for
:06:33. > :06:37.China and other trade reliant Asian economies. After several lean years
:06:38. > :06:42.of declining shipments. One of the export numbers that analysts are
:06:43. > :06:48.watching is China chasing statistics with America. The mainland had a $22
:06:49. > :06:53.billion trade surplus in the US with May. The surplus was the mainland's
:06:54. > :06:56.highest since November but if we know President Trump, this could
:06:57. > :07:00.stir up a tweet from him because he's been complaining about the
:07:01. > :07:05.widening Budget deficit with paging. Also in the minds of investors, the
:07:06. > :07:10.strong appetite for imports, particularly industrial commodities
:07:11. > :07:24.which is boosting resources worldwide. For Donald Trump, the
:07:25. > :07:25.fact that a We are also talking about another
:07:26. > :07:29.potential worry for President Trump. Not today's testimony from sacked
:07:30. > :07:32.FBI director James Comey - but a lawsuit claiming
:07:33. > :07:35.he is flouting the US constitution. It bans presidents from receiving
:07:36. > :07:38.gifts or payments from foreign governments - something the lawsuit
:07:39. > :07:40.claims Mr Trump receives through his hotel
:07:41. > :07:48.and business empire. The President of the United States,
:07:49. > :07:51.Donald Trump, is being sued. The lawsuit argues that Mr Trump's
:07:52. > :07:55.businesses are getting money from foreign governments which is a no-no
:07:56. > :08:01.according to the US Constitution's Morley 's calls. What is in
:08:02. > :08:04.emoluments? It is an 18p -- an 18th-century term for bribes? Given
:08:05. > :08:09.the connection to the President it's easy to see how this all tolls and
:08:10. > :08:13.restaurants have an advantage in attracting business. It's hard to
:08:14. > :08:18.compete against them and customers might choose a Trump business in
:08:19. > :08:22.case it gives them a little in with the commander-in-chief. When those
:08:23. > :08:25.dignitaries choose to dine there and hold events there, they are not
:08:26. > :08:29.going to some of the restaurants that are owned by the restaurant
:08:30. > :08:35.owners that are part of our organisation so they are uniquely
:08:36. > :08:39.harmed by those decisions. Our members can't compete with the
:08:40. > :08:43.President of the United States. This is exactly what the authors of the
:08:44. > :08:47.Constitution were worried about and why they included the emoluments
:08:48. > :08:50.clause in the first place. But so what? If a bunch of restaurants are
:08:51. > :08:57.losing a bit of business, isn't that just capitalism? The American people
:08:58. > :09:00.shouldn't have to question whether the President of the United States
:09:01. > :09:05.is actually taking into account his personal business interests and
:09:06. > :09:10.favouring, say, Russia or China or some other country. The Justice
:09:11. > :09:14.Department is representing the president and on Friday they will
:09:15. > :09:16.submit reasons why they think this case should be thrown out
:09:17. > :09:21.altogether. But assuming the judge will hear the case, or that
:09:22. > :09:33.threatens to reveal business information that Mr Trump would
:09:34. > :09:39.rather keep private. The markets are going to be watching everything
:09:40. > :09:42.going on Capitol Hill. Also, they are watching very closely the
:09:43. > :09:45.European Central Bank meeting which takes place today and the UK
:09:46. > :09:51.election, the outcome -- the outcome of which we will know the bubbly
:09:52. > :09:52.this time tomorrow. Fairly flat in Asia at the