21/07/2017 World Business Report

Markets have surged - but six months on -

the President's yet to deliver on growth,

How long will Wall Street's patience last?

The European boss of Goldman Sachs tells us about his costly

contingency plans- and why London will remain

UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson is in Japan for talks

where Brexit concerns are also set to dominate.

we start in the US where as of Thursday,

President Donald Trump has been in office for six months.

He made some big promises on the US economy -

inspiring a wave of optimism among investors.

But most of them are still just that - promises.

And some are now questioning the reality of Trumponomics,

or to use the new catchphrase, MAGAnomics, - as in Make America

The Dow Jones index surged on Mr Trump's election in November -

and it has continued its upwards march after breaking

through the 20,000 mark at the start of the year.

It's up 3200 points or 17% since the election

But political divisions are beginning to see the Trump

Take his flagship policy - replacing the Affordable healthcare

He's struggling to get fellow Republicans to agree

One senior figure in the party is now warning it may take as long

This has raised doubts over political support for some

of his other plans - the ones that have got

Cutting regulation in the energy and banking sectors,

and the big one - his highly anticipated overhaul of the tax

system that would see big cuts for business

So what about the broader economy itself?

President Trump promised to raise the GDP growth rate to 3% -

a level it hasn't sustained since the 1990s.

But six months in - that goal still looks

In the first three months of this year -

despite being revised up - the figure's less than half of that.

And the rate for April to June is expected to be better -

Earlier this week the President's frustration was clear at the lack

For seven years you have promised the American people that

you will repeal Obamacare, people are hurting.

Inaction is not an option and I don't think we should leave

town unless we have an health insurance plan and unless we can

give our people great healthcare because we are close.

Obamacare, the repeal of the Obamacare was supposed to be easy,

the one that most Republicans have been talking about for seven years

but they can't even get that through. It has been challenging.

There are so many different views not only between the Democrats and

the Republicans but within the Republican Party itself. Agreeing to

a new plan has proven challenging and it demonstrates that Trump is

not a good political operator. Many people within Congress and who, on

his behalf, are trying to make it happen. But, yeah, it is not

happening and it is troubling, I think, in terms of his agenda. Tax

reform is the one that Wall Street was getting excited about, along

with the regulation. They are struggling to get Obamacare through,

surely tax reform will be an even bigger challenge? The market has

accepted this already. The expectation on the timing of tax

reform and on the breadth of it and extent and how powerful it is. It

has all been well back in market terms. The market is not looking for

that much in terms of tax reform. They are looking for something

probably later this year, probably in Q4, maybe early next year. That

there is no expectation of the big sort of plan that was laid out back

in last year. Why do you think they have reduced their expectations?

Well, you see, I think you have to understand, the market itself is not

just about Trumponomics. There is a lot of liquidity out their. There

are a central banks around the world were still printing money and, in

fact, purchasing equity our newly created money. It is an Alice in

Wonderland world, topsy-turvy economics. Pushes the market higher.

Of course, the market can see that Donald Trump is struggling to get

stuff through Congress. But is discussed in growth. President Trump

would like to see 3% and we have not seen that sustained since the 1990s.

They have had 1.4 from January to March, we expect higher for the next

quarter. Should we judge him already on his failure to hit 3% a six-month

long on off? Of course not. The first quarter in the US has seasonal

pressures. It is often weak. You seen that happen since the GST I

would not read too much into that. Of course it is too soon. Ataxia is,

really, to have the full impact and to be honest, as we have just

discussed, not much has come into being from his policy. I think it is

way too early to judge. Do you think he will hit 3% and when? I don't

think you will. I don't think he has demonstrated the ability to push

through what he wants, it is not really happening. Thank you very

much. We are also talking Brexit -

because UK Prime Minister Theresa May has been hosting talks

with British business leaders - after criticism her government

is not addressing their worries. She told them she's aiming

for a 'smooth orderly exit' from the European Union -promising

a 'period of implementation in order Our business editor Simon Jack has

been hearing from one of London's top banking bosses about the costly

contingency plans HE is having to make - and the need

for a transitional deal to be agreed We obviously have contingency plans

which we have prepared. We got on to them after the referendum. They are

detailed plans and we are moving down a path. One thing must insurers

that come the end of March 2019, we are in a place to service our

clients, whatever the outcome of the negotiations. We have contingency

plans, we have offices in many European cities. Right now we have

them in Paris, Stockholm, Madrid, Milan. We have banks in Paris and

Frankfurt. We will work to buffer that up some what. It in the context

of a contingency plan. London will remain a significant financial

centre whatever the outcome of the discussions. We will maintain a

significant presence in London. But as the rule requires us to have more

on the continent, then we will have more on the continent. The financial

conduct authority, to whom you submitted your plans, they said they

thought banks would need to know what was going to happen this year,

or get some certainty, some clarity from the government this before they

start having to hit the contingency buttons. Is that right? The only way

to describe the contingency plan is that we are buying in Torrance. I

spend money every day to make sure that come March 2019I am open for

business. Obviously, as each month goes by I spend more money. The

certainty becomes less useful for me as we go further down the path. If I

knew today, if I knew today that we would have a significant transition

period, I could stop spending money. Taking out that insurance. I know I

would always have time to transition my business. If they tell me, in

February 2019, there will be a transition period, then has spent

that money and it is not much use to me. At that point, a transition

period does not help. The sooner we know the answer about whether they

will or will not have a transition period, it will helpful. You need to

know this year? The sooner the better.

Let's go to Asia now and you may be wondering what UK

Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson is doing here with a robot.

Well, he's in Japan to discuss, among other things,

trade relations ahead of Brexit and to reassure business chiefs

who have made major investments in the UK.

That's been the top story for our Asia business team today -

Sharanjit Leyl in Singapore is following it for us.

It is fairly oily and at the moment. As he saw there, he again his visit

was a visit to the Robotics Centre in Tokyo. His meeting with his

counterpart as we speak. They just had a press conference when he

declared that the UK stands shoulder to shoulder with Japan in efforts to

rein in the nuclear ambitions from North Korea. But, of course, it is

really Brexit under a percussion so will dominate his visit. He has been

talking of strong economic ties between the nine countries and

noting that Japanese companies have invested over $50 billion in the UK.

Japan's political and business leaders as well, they did not want

reassuring because they are reported to be concerned about the state of

negotiations. We know that Boris Johnson is not directly involved but

it is important for him to reassure these leaders. We know that the UK

is the second most important destination for Japanese investment

after the United States. But, Boris Johnson has his work cut out for him

after the Japanese agreed a free-trade deal with the earlier

this month. That may likely Comput Chem matters. It is scheduled to

come into effect early 2019 just as the time that Britain is due to

leave the block. US authorities have fined

Exxon Mobil $2m for violating sanctions against Russia while

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson Exxon dealt with Igor Sechin,

the president of Russian oil giant Rosneft, who was blacklisted,

the US Treasury Department said. Exxon has challenged the finding,

calling it "fundamentally unfair". That's it for us. Don't forget you

can get in touch with us via Twitter.