Thursday newspaper round-up: Brexit deal, Trump, bank exits, pharma warning

The Trump administration unveiled what it called the biggest tax cuts “in history” on Wednesday, in a move that will simplify the US tax system, slash taxes for businesses large and small – including his own – eliminate inheritance taxes and set the president on a collision course with Congress over the likely $2tn-plus cost of the proposal. Critics immediately called it “basically a huge tax cut for the rich”. - Guardian

The Trump administration has given its strongest indication yet that Britain is sliding back in the queue to strike a free-trade agreement with America, with the US commerce secretary suggesting that a deal is a low priority. The upcoming general election and the UK’s need to negotiate a post-Brexit trade agreement with the EU were among several complications that made a deal with the US a low priority, Wilbur Ross said. - The Times

The White House has announced that the United States will not unilaterally withdraw from Nafta, the landmark free trade agreement with Canada and Mexico, after multiple reports that Donald Trump was planning to pull out of the deal. In a readout of calls between Trump, Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau and Mexican president Enrique Pena Nieto on Wednesday, the White House said: “President Trump agreed not to terminate Nafta at this time.” - Guardian

Britain’s shops are slashing workers as they try to cut costs in the face of rising prices and falling sales. The number of jobs in the industry fell by 2.2pc in the first quarter of the year compared with the same period of 2016. - Telegraph

Deutsche Bank has warned that up to 4,000 UK jobs could be moved to Frankfurt and other locations in the European Union as a result of Brexit. Germany’s biggest bank employs 9,000 staff across the UK, including 7,000 in the City, and has called for clarity about how transactions worth billions of euros will be dealt with after the UK leaves the EU. - Guardian

At least seven international banks based in London have taken the decision to open offices in Frankfurt to beat trading restrictions in the wake of Brexit, the German city said yesterday. A further 20 banks were in advanced talks on relocating some staff, Frankfurt officials said, while reports cited US giants Goldman Sachs and Citigroup and Swiss banks Credit Suisse and UBS as all being understood to be considering a relocation of London staff. - The Times

The pharmaceutical industry has issued an unprecedented warning that the world’s biggest drug companies will abandon Britain unless the NHS receives an extra £20 billion a year. The Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) says that increased rationing of treatments is a sign that the NHS is falling out of the top tier of world health systems, and that patients and companies will suffer as a result. - The Times

Plain cigarette cartons featuring large, graphic health warnings could persuade 300,000 people in the UK to quit smoking if the measure has the effect it had in Australia, scientists say. Standardised cigarette packaging will be compulsory in the UK from 20 May. A new review from the independent health research organisation Cochrane on the impact of plain packaging around the world has found that it does affect the behaviour of smokers. - Guardian

Britain’s car plants are running at the fastest speed in 17 years, with 170,691 new vehicles rolling off the production line in March. Figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders showed this was 7.3pc up on the same month last year, and takes first quarter production to 471,695, again the highest level since 2000 and up 7.6pc on the same period in 2016. - Telegraph