:00:18. > :00:20.The UK government pushes for a frictionless trade deal
:00:21. > :00:24.to help ease its transition towards a post-Brexit future.
:00:25. > :00:28.Donald Trump calls for an investigation into whether China
:00:29. > :00:38.is stealing Intellectual Property from American companies.
:00:39. > :00:50.The British Prime Minister Theresa May has this morning,
:00:51. > :00:52.published a blueprint for future trade relations between the UK
:00:53. > :01:03.In the first of a series of Brexit papers, the government suggested
:01:04. > :01:06.creating an interim period of trade, saying one possible approach
:01:07. > :01:09.would be a temporary customs union between the UK and the EU.
:01:10. > :01:12.That means they would continue applying the same tariffs to goods
:01:13. > :01:15.from outside the union - which can then move between them
:01:16. > :01:21.The government's Brexit committee hopes a time-limited transition
:01:22. > :01:24.period will give importers and exporters enough time to adjust
:01:25. > :01:34.In a bid to create what it calls a seamless and frictionless
:01:35. > :01:36.border, the government has suggested either creating a brand
:01:37. > :01:38.new arrangement that includes a new customs border,
:01:39. > :01:41.or a special partnership which would negate the need
:01:42. > :01:45.With me is Christian Schulz, the director of European economics
:01:46. > :02:03.Thank you for joining us. Whose interests would such a deal most be
:02:04. > :02:08.in? I think both sides would benefit if effectively nothing changes in
:02:09. > :02:14.March when the UK leads the EU. Customs unions are particularly
:02:15. > :02:19.important, important for goods trade. Something has two physically
:02:20. > :02:26.cross the border to attach customs to it, tourism services not
:02:27. > :02:31.affected. Goods trade, as we all know, the EU runs a big surplus with
:02:32. > :02:43.the UK. Whereas, the UK runs a big deficit with the EU. UK purchasers
:02:44. > :02:49.more? Indeed. It shows that, for the EU, this is actually pretty good if
:02:50. > :02:54.nothing changes, because they could continue to export a lot of things
:02:55. > :02:58.to the UK. So, is this a smart move? The government has picked something
:02:59. > :03:05.that would be of huge benefit to those on the other side of the
:03:06. > :03:12.negotiating table? From an economic standpoint, yes. It avoids a cliff
:03:13. > :03:18.edge in the specific case of goods trade. That doesn't affect at all
:03:19. > :03:23.the services trade, what happens to people moving between the UK and the
:03:24. > :03:29.EU and so on. But for goods trade, it means nothing would change. There
:03:30. > :03:34.is no fear of a cliff edge, more time to adjust to whatever happens
:03:35. > :03:40.in the future. The real question is what comes in the future, after that
:03:41. > :03:45.arrangement? If there was such an interim customs union ordeal or
:03:46. > :03:50.whatever you want to call it, that would stop the UK from going ahead
:03:51. > :03:56.in signing free trade deals from countries outside the EU, which is
:03:57. > :04:01.the whole point of Brexit? One of the economic upside is potentially
:04:02. > :04:03.of Brexit would be the UK negotiating and bringing into affect
:04:04. > :04:12.free-trade deals with countries outside the EU. That could include
:04:13. > :04:17.the US and Australia and so on. With the customs union, they cannot bring
:04:18. > :04:21.these trade agreements into effect, they can negotiate them and find
:04:22. > :04:26.them, but they cannot be in effect. It would give the UK a chance to do
:04:27. > :04:30.these deals, but they would not be in effect. Do you think it is a
:04:31. > :04:34.realistic prospect that this deal will be done? I think that the
:04:35. > :04:39.interim arrangement is perfectly possible. Where it gets interesting
:04:40. > :04:46.is in future. Those two options, a Customs border or this partnership
:04:47. > :04:51.where the UK and the EU somehow work together in their customs
:04:52. > :04:57.arrangements, that almost sounds a bit like what we have at the moment.
:04:58. > :05:01.The EU negotiates with the rest of the world on behalf of everyone. In
:05:02. > :05:06.that case, the UK could sneak into that arrangement via the back door,
:05:07. > :05:11.I guess. I have a sneaking suspicion we will be talking about this again
:05:12. > :05:12.in the months to come. Thank you very much.
:05:13. > :05:14.US President Donald Trump has asked his country's top trade
:05:15. > :05:17.official to review China's practices regarding intellectual property.
:05:18. > :05:20.The probe comes at a sensitive time for Washington as it leans on China
:05:21. > :05:23.to assist with the nuclear threat posed by North Korea.
:05:24. > :05:26.Let's get more on this with Rico Hizon in Singapore.
:05:27. > :05:44.They are at loggerheads yet again. According to the US government,
:05:45. > :05:49.intellectual property stolen by the mainland is estimated at more than
:05:50. > :05:54.$300 billion. China is that to account for up to 80% of global
:05:55. > :05:59.intellectual property theft. These talks have been going on for a
:06:00. > :06:03.while, I earlier spoke to a market research in Shanghai and I asked if
:06:04. > :06:08.it was wise for Donald Trump to criticise the Chinese. I think he is
:06:09. > :06:12.right, he should be criticising China for the over protectionism in
:06:13. > :06:17.the country, as well is for copywriting intellectual property
:06:18. > :06:21.issues. It is a fair, at this stage, that a lot of American companies,
:06:22. > :06:26.such as General Motors, have to set up a joint-venture in China. The
:06:27. > :06:30.concern is that right now, there is a lot of transfer of technology to
:06:31. > :06:35.the Chinese joint-venture partner. Today, you will be helping your
:06:36. > :06:42.partner become your competitor in five years. There is also situations
:06:43. > :06:46.like Elon musk, who want to open a factory in China, but they are not
:06:47. > :06:51.willing to have a joint-venture partner. Donald Trump is definitely
:06:52. > :06:54.correct. China won't take this sitting down. They said they will
:06:55. > :07:00.take action to defend their interests if the US damages trade
:07:01. > :07:07.relations. They have also said that America must respect objective fact
:07:08. > :07:09.and not ignore principles of multilateralism. We will see how
:07:10. > :07:12.they move forward. 70 years have passed
:07:13. > :07:15.since the end of the British Raj. Partition resulted in Muslims moving
:07:16. > :07:18.to the newly formed state of Pakistan and Hindus moving
:07:19. > :07:23.to independent India. Among the millions of people
:07:24. > :07:26.affected, the owner of one sweets franchise eventually managed
:07:27. > :07:29.to thrive in a new homeland. But it was a painful
:07:30. > :07:41.and challenging journey- Partition was very bad for many. It
:07:42. > :08:02.was for us, we had to start again from zero.
:08:03. > :08:12.We had three restaurants, and some shops here. They were of quite a
:08:13. > :08:18.large size, but due to partition, we had to move to Bombay. Any
:08:19. > :08:36.establishment takes decades to build, and it only takes an hour to
:08:37. > :08:45.destroy. The clientele base was totally destroyed. It was hard work
:08:46. > :08:49.in Mumbai. We could not import our customers from Karachi.
:08:50. > :08:56.We could not import our customers from
:08:57. > :09:06.This is the house where we came and stayed. It was almost like a
:09:07. > :09:10.dormitory. All our employees came and stayed with us for a number of
:09:11. > :09:30.years before we could establish our business again. The memory cannot be
:09:31. > :09:36.wiped out entirely. The pain is still there. The mockery of the
:09:37. > :09:42.whole thing is that it was not a question of religion or politics or
:09:43. > :09:52.state. Then what was the cause of partition? Plenty more on partition
:09:53. > :09:55.on our website, and you can get in touch with me on Twitter. We will be
:09:56. > :10:04.back for the papers shortly.