17/08/2017 World Business Report

Now it's time for World Business Report.

President Trump disbands his business councils,

as American business leaders abandon him over his comments

That's how Donald Trump has described the North American Free

Trade Agreement, a pact between the US, Canada and Mexico.

Also in the programme, Rico will talk us through some

surprisingly strong economic data from some Asian economies.

US President Donald Trump has closed down two

This comes as several business leaders started walking away

from the groups, in a reaction against the Preisdent's response

-- President's response to the deadly protests

Despite belatedly condemning the white supremacist and neo-Nazi

Trump appeared to defend the rally's organisers.

Samira Hussain reports from New York.

It was the tweets that said it all. On Wednesday, Donald Trump disbanded

to councils to bring jobs to America.

But the move was more about saving face. I especially want to thank Ken

Frazier. In a statement, Ken Frazier said he felt a responsibility to

take a stand against intolerance and extremism. By Monday evening, their

CEOs of Intel and UnderArmour, the presidents of the alliance of

American manufacturing and others all left the council. They are not

taking their job seriously as it pertains to this country. After

commenting on the corporate resignations at a press conference

on Tuesday, the president then blamed both sides for the deadly

violence. You had a group on one side that was bad and you had a

group on one side that was also very violent and nobody wants to say it

but I will say it right now. After those comments, the exodus from the

business councils was fast and furious. It is rare fur corporate

America to publicly distance themselves from President of the

United States but this is a different kind of administration and

many believe Mr Trump crossed the line. These defections really show

that corporate America is no longer waiting for Mr Trump to deliver on

any of his pro-business policies. It's day two of talks to renegotiate

the twenty-three year old North American

Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA, between the United States,

Canada and Mexico. Talks to overhaul NAFTA,

which President Trump had once vowed to tear up, will be watched closely

by America's trading partners Currently trade between these three

countries is worth about $1 But the US buys more goods

and services from its neighbours than it sells to them,

so has a yawning trade deficit - more than $12 billion

with Canada and more than $55 Trump wants a deal that helps US

firms sell more to these nations. NAFTA was born well before

smartphones were around, so the US Trade team want any deal

modernised for the digital While auto and farming industries

traditionally have a big say in trade talks, the technology

industry is ramping up efforts Tech firms want free flows of data,

low tariffs as well as global With me is Professor David Collins,

University of London. Does it need changing? We are now in

the post-industrial age. We are seeing an increase in trade and

services. We have the Internet now. This is an agreement that need to be

renegotiated and Donald Trump is seizing a good opportunity to do

this now. As America lost out as badly as it says? I don't think so.

It's been great for all the countries. It doubled the trade that

was taking place from the 80s. The idea there was this great

expression. Ross Perot saying there would be the sound of jobs

disappearing. That is a fallacy. The reason the job losses have been

automation. It is not due to globalisation and not due to trade.

Tearing up Nafta was never on the cards. It's a good opportunity to

get it modernised. Let's look at what might be modernised.

Technology, the yawning gap. E-commerce needs to be addressed.

There needs to be increased market access for telecommunications,

particularly in the Canadian market. That is done in much more of a

cross-border manner. There would be the other issues such as data

protection and data flows. Would it be easier to deal with? Some of them

would be easier than others. Some of them will relate to data protection

issues. There is a perception that the US is not great with that start

a protection laws. There is a bit of nervousness on the part of Canadians

having their darts are controlled by American companies. -- date. Canada

has been reluctant to open up its telecommunication markets. Those

will be interesting to watch. Thank you very much indeed.

Rico Hizon is in our Asia Business hub in Singapore.

Let's start with Japan which had trade figures out today.

Very common -- from very promising, beating expectations. Exports rising

for eight straight months, driven by a robust shipments. Speaking to

economists, they say this could be a sign that the economy is showing

increasing signs of strength with private consumption adding to this

growth momentum. Total exports. Increasing by 13.4%. Exports to the

US arising 11.5%. Shipments to the mainland gaining 17.6% mark in a

ninth straight month of gains. Philippines, home, sweet home for

you. It is one of the fastest growing economies. It is now growing

at eight consecutive quarter. Already one of the world's

fastest-growing, the Philippines has been boosted by strong domestic

demand and planned spending on roads, railways and ports. Looking

good going forward. Expectations are high for Alibaba's

quarterly earnings report due Chinese consumers' demand

for shopping online has made Alibaba Companies like Alibaba,

Taobao and AliExpress. Alibaba is now building a brick

and mortar presence as well Ryanair has accused Lufthansa

and the German government of conspiring to carve up

collapsed airline Air Berlin. Lufthansa is negotiating over

buying Air Berlin planes, which are still flying

following a 150m euro The German government rejected

the accusation and said its support for Air Berlin did not

breach anti-trust rules. There is an increasing feeling in

the markets that it is going to be delayed, interest rates in the US.

The Federal Reserve issued the minutes and it shows members anxious

in holding operates until they had a clearer idea about inflation. Let us

move on and give you an idea about how the markets ended. The dollar

was the main casualty. Don't forget, you can get in touch with me and

some of the team on Twitter. See you later.

Alligator far too many older people are suffering in silence when things

go wrong with their NHS care, the