Thursday newspaper round-up: Trade, Brexit, North Sea oil, WPP

Rising trade tensions threaten to derail global economic growth and signs of a slowdown have started to emerge, the World Trade Organisation has warned. Nations were urged to “show restraint” amid heightened fears of a full-blown trade war between the United States and other countries. President Trump is set to impose tariffs on $34 billion of Chinese products tomorrow. The government in Beijing is expected to strike back with retaliatory duties within hours. - The Times

Donald Trump has ordered the entire world to cut off Iranian oil imports by early November. A few countries will be given slightly more time to adjust but there will be no waivers. It is a total blockade. If most of the world complies – and even China might find it hard to defy – it will reduce global spare capacity to zero by the end of the year. This is worse than during the oil shocks of 1979 and 2008. - Telegraph

Theresa May’s fractious cabinet ministers are warning Downing Street not to skirt controversial issues, including freedom of movement and services, off the table at Friday’s Chequers meeting. As ministers were prepared for the all-day gathering with briefings in Downing Street, they told the Guardian they were concerned the focus on the details of future customs arrangement was too narrow, leaving out the crucial services sector and failing to address freedom of movement. - Guardian

David Davis has written to the Prime Minister warning that her plan for Brexit to be presented to the Cabinet at Chequers on Friday is unworkable. The Brexit Secretary has sent a letter, setting out his opposition to Theresa May's so-called "third way" plan, amid concerns the EU will reject it out of hand. - Telegraph

Almost 13,000 small retail businesses are at “high risk” of collapse if Britain leaves the European Union without a deal, industry leaders have said. A “hard Brexit” in March could break the supply chain, leaving food rotting at the border and limiting the choice and quality of products on supermarket shelves, according to the British Retail Consortium. - The Times

The North Sea oil market is set for a significant reshaping after Chevron said that it was planning to sell several of its assets. The energy giant has been assessing its options for several months as part of a strategic review but is now marketing a large chunk of its British portfolio to potential buyers. - The Times

WPP has sent a legal letter to Sir Martin Sorrell, threatening to prevent its founder and former chief executive collecting up to £20m in future payouts if he pursues a takeover bid for a company it is also seeking to acquire. The company’s law firm, Slaughter & May, has written to Sorrell’s lawyers saying that he is “likely to be in breach of his confidentiality obligations” if he succeeds in a €300m (£264m) takeover bid for Netherlands-based digital production business MediaMonks.

Aviva's investment arm has pulled back from its favoured asset class of emerging market equities and invested in US and British shares. Its asset management division, which handles £350 billion of investments, said the risks of a trade war had grown and it would not be surprised to see “mini crashes” in the months ahead. The group said it now had neutral exposure to emerging market shares, which was previously “our highest overweight conviction”. - The Times

England’s progress in the World Cup combined with an uninterrupted run of hot weather is giving UK supermarkets a multimillion pound sales fillip as shoppers stock up with beer, barbecue food and ice-cream. Retailers said their sales reflected the wider celebratory mood, with fans watching the games from home shelling out for football parties and al fresco gatherings before games. - Guardian

Britain's largest car manufacturer Jaguar Land Rover has warned its future in the UK is at risk if the country crashes out of the EU with a bad Brexit deal, ahead of Theresa May presenting her "white paper" to Europe next week. JLR chief executive Ralf Speth said a restrictive trade deal between the UK and EU, without tariff-free access and frictionless trade, "would cost Jaguar Land £1.2bn profit each year". - Telegraph

Nearly 600 more retail jobs are to go in the UK as the Jacques Vert, Windsmoor and Precis department store brands are wound down by administrators. Administrators said they had failed to find a buyer for Calvetron Brands, which had been restructured following a rescue deal last summer. The business entered administration in May and had already shed more than 400 jobs before Wednesday’s announcement. - Guardian

Big technology companies may be partly to blame for weak wage growth across much of the advanced world, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. “Superstar” firms, such as Google and Amazon, share less of their income with staff than established rivals, the club of rich nations said. At the same time, they are taking market share. The result has been a break in the traditional link between productivity growth and wages in several countries. - The Times

Britain’s haulage industry is “sleep-walking” — or perhaps that should be sleep-driving — into a shortage of drivers because of an ageing and increasingly unhealthy workforce, putting the health of the economy at risk. According to the Unite union, the industry’s failure to recruit younger workers means the average age of an large goods vehicle driver has increased from 45.3 years in 2001 to 48 in 2016, with 13 per cent aged over 60 and only 1 per cent under 25. - The Times

Annual profits at The Daily Telegraph and The Sunday Telegraph have halved as a result of the continued slump in print newspaper advertising. Pre-tax earnings at Telegraph Media Group fell to £13.7 million last year, compared with £27.1 million in 2016 as the company scrambled to replace plummeting revenues from traditional sources, such as newsstand sales and print advertisements, with new digital income. - The Times

Ryanair crew have warned they could join pilots in taking industrial action this summer after presenting the chief executive, Michael O’Leary, with a list of demands. Speaking after a summit in Dublin, representatives of cabin and ground crew from across Europe said there had been little progress since O’Leary reversed a long-held policy of refusing to recognise trade unions more than six months ago. - Guardian