Friday newspaper round-up: Tariffs, regional mayors, Leon boss

(Sharecast News) - Donald Trump has imposed a fresh round of sweeping tariffs on more than 80 countries to replace a 10% global duty that was due to expire, setting off a wave of criticism and protests from US allies and major trading partners. In its latest attempt to instate aggressive trade policies despite challenges from the America's highest court, the US has imposed a tariff of between a 10% or 12.5% on dozens of countries, including the United Kingdom, Mexico, Canada, Australia, India, China and the 27 countries that make up the European Union. It effectively replaces the blanket 10% tariff that Trump imposed in February, right after the US supreme court declared that many of his earlier tariffs were illegal. - Guardian

Regional mayors are to be given a leading role in the UK's economic policy, Andy Burnham has said, as he called the opening of No 10 North "the biggest rebalancing of power our country has seen". The new prime minister has revived the national economic council [NEC], first set up by Gordon Brown to put the government on a war footing during the 2008 financial crash, arguing that economic growth requires the same level of urgency, focus and collective action. - Guardian

The boss of Leon has accused Andy Burnham of creating a divide within hospitality by cutting business rates for pubs while leaving restaurants and hotels to face soaring tax bills. John Vincent, who co-founded the company in 2004, said he could not understand why restaurants had been excluded from the Prime Minister's flagship support package, claiming Labour was treating businesses with identical customers and costs differently. - Telegraph

The boss of British Gas has warned the country risks winter energy shortages as reserves dwindle. Chris O'Shea said Britain was at risk because of a lack of gas storage facilities. His warning came as gas prices surged to their highest level in a year, driven by concerns about threats to Middle Eastern supply. There were also moves by electricity grid bosses on Thursday to shore up Britain's energy system by restricting how much power can be exported to Europe during times of stress. - Telegraph

At the London Stock Exchange on Tuesday, Luke Miels, the chief executive of GSK, will host his first major strategy update since he took charge of the drug company in January. It is a big moment for Miels and GSK. In a direct pitch to institutional investors and analysts, Miels, 51, will lead a three-hour presentation at Paternoster Square designed to convince the City that the FTSE 100 company is at a "resurgent point" and able to hit a headline �40 billion sales target by 2031, despite shareholder scepticism and a "patent cliff" later this decade. - The Times