Hello and welcome to World Business Report from the BBC World Service.
I'm Roger Hearing and on this edition, Mexico's president follows up on the Trump administration designating some drug cartels as terrorists, but accusing American gunmakers whose weapon the cartels use of assisting terrorists.
Also, the spy who joined Amazon.
The family that ran the James Bond franchise for decades stand aside for Jeff Bezos.
Also, what the US clamped down on undocumented migrants is doing to American small businesses.
And that big heavy sandal may be comfortable, but the Birkenstock you might be wearing is now officially not a work of art.
But first, Mexico's president has raised the stakes in its confrontation with the US over trade, drugs and migrants.
In one of his first acts as president, Donald Trump designated several Mexican drug cartels as terrorist groups.
Now his Mexican counterpart, Claudia Scheinbaum, says her country's legal case that US arms manufacturers allow their weapons to end up in cartel hands should therefore include a new charge that they are complicit with terrorists.
She was speaking during a news conference in Mexico City and she also suggested the designation of cartels as terrorists was a challenge to Mexican sovereignty.
what we want to make clear in the face of this designation is that we do not negotiate sovereignty as i said yesterday this cannot be an opportunity for the united states to invade our sovereignty so they can name them however they want to but with mexico it is a collaboration and coordination never
subordination non -interference and even less invasion collaboration and coordination.
Nunca subordinación, no injerencismo y menos invasión.
That was the Mexican president, Claudia Scheinbaum, speaking earlier.
So I asked our Mexico correspondent, Will Grant, is charging America's gunmaking, gunmakers with assisting terrorism, a serious proposal?
What basically this means is that under the previous administration in Mexico, of Andres Mápez Obrador, there was this push in the United States to bring a case in Massachusetts against gun manufacturers saying, you are in essence arming these criminal groups in Mexico, you are fueling the drug war
and that is negligence.
You are turning a blind eye to gun fairs, you are turning a blind eye to the sale of weapons of war, .50 caliber weapons which simply cannot be used for hunting, you know these are going to the drug war in the South and you're doing nothing to stop it.
That was the essence of the argument.
Now, of course, they feel like their hand has been strengthened under the administration of President Claudia Sheenbaum because the Trump administration has redefined those groups as foreign terrorist organisations.
So now, in essence, they can say, look, we can add a charge of alleged complicity with terrorist groups.
Ultimately, you're arming terrorists, not just criminals.
Yeah, that's an interesting move forward.
But I mean, is it more than just playing to the to the crowd, as it were?
Because clearly, there is a big row between Mexico and the US at the moment.
The threat of tariffs, of course, hanging over Mexico.
Is is this just another way of ranking it up so that the discussions perhaps will move into a more intense phase?
Yeah, I think certainly within the Mexican perspective and the Mexican government's view is that this is a pretty coherent argument, a pretty cogent argument that's saying, look, you yourselves are calling them terrorists.
Therefore, you have to do more to make sure that you're not arming them because the guns aren't being manufactured in Mexico.
They're coming from the United States.
And I think you're right that this is about placing very firm positions, legal ones if necessary, so that when both sides come to the negotiating table, whether or not that the tariffs or over fentanyl smuggling or over undocumented immigration, each side has something to bring to the table.
In the case of the Claudia Sheinbaum administration, that would be basically forcing an acknowledgement by the Trump administration of two things in the drug war.
One, that the US is the biggest market for illegal drugs in the world.
So, of course, they need to do more to tackle that as much as they say that obviously the Mexican government needs to do more to stop the fentanyl getting in.
They say that obviously the US government needs to stop the demand for fentanyl, but also this other element that we've been discussing, stopping the flow of guns south.
So I think you're right.
There is an element here of not quite posturing, but making their positions clear.
But I would say I've spoken to some of the lawyers involved and some of the key government officials bringing this case in the United States.
And they are they're not doing it just for effect.
They are trying to make Mexico's position clear and I think that a lot of Mexicans back them in that.
And behind all this, I mentioned the tariff situation and these still overhanging the relations between the United States and Mexico.
It's only been postponed, the imposition of these tariffs.
Is there a sense behind the scenes that there are moves to perhaps postpone them for longer to find some way forward to perhaps do the things that Donald Trump wanted in order not to have the tariffs?
Yeah, I mean, it was a sort of stay of execution, wasn't it?
Look, we're not going to put them in place for now.
While there has been an agreement to send 10 ,000 troops to Mexico's northern border, i .e.
the border with the United States, and those troops will be focused on fentanyl and undocumented immigration, that was enough essentially for Mr.
Trump to sort of call them off for the time being.
And in return, Claudio Sheinbaum was able to say he has acknowledged these elements that I want from him, specifically on on the gun question.
I think you're, you know, you make a good point that this isn't over yet.
So I think that that month postponement gives both sides and particularly the Mexicans enough time to show willing, to show good faith when it comes to the fentanyl question.
And of course, a big fish in that regard in arrested in the past day or so.
That's José Angel Canobio, he was considered the head of security for one of the sons of the jailed drug lord El Chapo Guzman, and was believed to be largely responsible for the Sinaloa cartel's push into fentanyl smuggling.
So things like that, which come straight hot on the heels of the Trump administration officially designating these Mexican cartels as foreign terrorist organizations is all part of, I think, the same effort to show the Trump administration that it is goodwill on both sides.
And they are trying to tackle the issue and are prepared to work over the border in that regard.
That was Will Grant.
I should have. We did speak to or try to speak to arms manufacturers in the United States about this, but no one was available to talk to us.
But the relationship between the US and Mexico has been strained since the Trump era began, especially over the tariffs of 25 % threatened by Washington on goods coming in from Mexico, and still only suspended at the moment.
But the drug cartels are also a key issue.
Guadalupe Correa Cabrera is professor in the Shah School of Policy and Government at George Mason University.
She's a specialist in cartels and U .S.-Mexican relations.
I asked what she made of the designation of the cartels who get the guns as terrorists.
What is a cartel? Let's face it.
The terror in Mexico is against Mexicans.
It's all about drugs or drug trafficking.
Some of these people or some of the so -called cartels is just like focus on extracting rents from Mexicans.
I mean, you attack civilians and the person that you direct your message is the state.
Does this have a person that you want to say in the message the U .S.
government? I am not sure how they are conceptualizing all these communications.
I mean, this does not reflect reality.
Does the groups that exercise terror over Mexican population are doing this to target the U .S.
state? I am not sure about that.
It is probably domestic terrorism in Mexico.
I mean, they perpetrate acts of terror.
But is this terrorism, according to the definition of terrorism in the United States of America, and the groups that they are referred to when talking about the organizations that they are denominating terrorist groups, it's complicated.
The Tinaloa Cartel is divided within itself.
There's not an homogenous group that you're talking about.
The Gulf Cartel. What is the Gulf Cartel?
A number of cells that at one point in time were denominated as the Gulf Cartel, but now they are criminal cells that operate against Mexican communities.
Does that have to do with the United States state?
I am not sure about that.
Professor Guadalupe Correo Cabrera.
Now, the name is Hearing.
Roger Hearing. And James Bond fans have found themselves shaken and stirred today by the news that the Broccoli family will no longer control the film franchise.
They've controlled it for almost six decades.
Creative control will now be given to Amazon MGM Studios.
But who are the Broccoli's?
Kim Masters is a partner in Putt News and host of KCRW's weekly radio show, The Business.
Well, they kind of are the Bond films and any meaningful part of the control of this franchise.
It started with Albert Cubby Broccoli decades ago.
He then passed the torch to his daughter, Barbara, and she has partnered with her stepbrother, Michael Wilson.
And they have controlled everything about Bond.
who plays bond what the roles are what are the rules of bond and they have this is something that particularly barbara brockley has made her kind of life's work preserving that legacy so this is a big moment that was not anticipated by people well exactly it's quite strange in a way because as you say
wilson and brockley's top priority very much protecting the brand really being the brand so something must have changed what's changed do you think it's we don't know i mean people i know who have been sources that i've turned to for a guidance on what's going on in barbara broccoli's mind because she
doesn't she doesn't talk publicly that often and she doesn't take press calls either as far as i know maybe very rarely but not not not for me uh ever But even the people I know who were close to her were absolutely gobsmacked by this.
It just came out of the blue.
I mean, there was a recent piece in The Wall Street Journal in December, which followed reporting that I had done quite a bit before that, now that the bond property is controlled, was owned but not controlled by Amazon, that she had been very unhappy with Amazon, said quite ugly things about the people
at Amazon and was unwilling to move forward because of that lack of compatibility.
So, to go from that just, you know, for quite some time now, really since Amazon acquired MGM, which was the studio putting out the Bond films in the past several years, to go from that to we're done and handing it over, it's quite a change.
I mean, of course, one doesn't like to speculate about health.
I know that the stepbrother Michael Wilson is in his 80s, and I guess retiring and leaves her on her own.
But she's from everything I've ever heard.
She's a tough customer.
So I don't know if that alone.
I mean, that was that was a state of play all this time.
So I don't know if something happened.
But something I mean, I don't know what happened.
Clearly, something happened.
Yeah, well, I mean, you know, at the risk of sounding grubby, Kim was it money do you think I mean Amazon has an awful lot of money is that going to be part of it do you think I can't imagine that it is I mean I don't think the broccolies are short of change you know I think they're not rummaging in the couch
cushions they have to be very wealthy I don't know what her net worth is but I don't understand how money alone would explain this considering what the Bond franchise has meant to her you know since she was a teenager she got involved with these films and i i just don't know that they said here's a number
but so that to me my gut says it's something else but i don't know but one should say of course these are among the bond films have been an enormously profitable enterprise and amazon has been involved i think since 2021 so they've made quite a bit of money out of bond so far i guess well i don't not sure
that they have they one of the reasons barbara broccoli did not care for the amazon people is that they came in and they were saying, let's do a TV series, let's do this, you know, all these spinoff ideas.
Barbara Broccoli has not been receptive to those.
I think they did one kind of, I don't know, some kind of adventure game show thing that didn't do particularly well.
But Barbara Broccoli, if you wanted to alienate her, a very good way to do that is to say, how about a Bond TV series?
And I guess, you know, as you say, you know, protecting the brand, very much what she wanted to do this news that that they're not involved anymore how is it going down with the fans uh i'm i'm sure the fans are i mean i haven't been scouring social media but i'm gonna guess that the fans are anxious
i would say because there's you know the question of who is going to be the next bond uh is looms large and but one thing the broccolis did manage to do is to pick people who generally you know the fans embraced uh so what amazon will do it you know it's an open question jeff bezos you know he took
a break from uh flattering donald trump to post on x or twitter who do you want to play the next bond and you know a lot of people have had a lot of ideas i know barbara brockley felt that the bond bond should be uh not should be a man and should be a British man whether Amazon feels wedded to that or wants
to switch to a more you know different flavour Bond I don't know Kim Masters there well let's hear from a fan Anjay Chowdhury member of the James Bond International Fan Club and co -author of Spy Octane The Vehicles of James Bond joins me now AJ thanks so much for being with us how I mean we were hearing
there about the broccoli family and their influence do you feel that their departure is going to be a good thing or a bad thing for the brand I think it will make a difference I think I think of Barbara Broccoli and Michael Wilson, the heirs of one of the co -founders, Gabby Broccoli, of the Alex Ferguson of the James
Bond franchise. You know, they're a great manager.
They've been with us some time, but you don't expect them to last forever.
They were aging as well.
They might have passed it down.
I think there was a problem between them and Amazon.
They're new co -owners.
But I have every faith that they know what they're doing.
And corporate ownership of a franchise doesn't have to be bad.
people cite marvel movies and star wars as a bad thing i think they're good i enjoy them if you're a fan people are always going to complain about james bond you know there's that old joke how many bond fans does it take to change a light bulb one but tend to complain how much better the original was i
think we're in that territory now yeah it makes sense i suppose okay so uh bond under amazon i mean we're talking streaming we might be talking games that's going to be a good you think absolutely you know um i'll give an example i've just co -written a book on james bond a big coffee table book called
spy octane about the vehicles of james bond it's a densely researched thing you could do that for each aspect of james bond each character m money penny q all the aspects based on travel the vehicles the wine the drinkmanship bond is such a broad church and it has never really been commercially exploited
the bond films made by eon productions actually like a bespoke tailor -made suit.
And in some ways, we understand what Michael and Barbara have done is curated something, and probably that's lasted so long, at a huge commercial value, but also, in the Daniel Craig era especially, critically lauded, and I think that's rare.
Yes, indeed, but he wore a nice suit, taking up your theme there.
Ajay, thanks so much for being with us.
Ajay Chowdhury there, of the James Bond International Fan Club.
Well, let's talk to Kerry Leahy once again, Kerry.
So there's still a chance for you.
But let's talk about markets, I guess.
What about Walmart?
I mean, that was the key thing, I think, today.
Falling shy of analyst expectations, really.
Oh, absolutely. They gave pretty disappointing guidance about the start of this year.
They said the consumer is worried about a lot of things, particularly the uncertainty of the last month or so.
It would make anyone's head spin with all the changes from the Trump administration, with perhaps two years worth of policy changes all announced in about one year.
And in addition, the Walmart story followed a pretty poor retail sales report last week.
So you had sort of a one -two punch that now the typical institutional investors starting to have some second thoughts about how strong the U .S.
consumer is. And as we all know, consumer spending is about 70 % of GDP.
So without a consumer, you don't really have much of an economy.
Indeed. Well, I mean, retail stores, people going in and out may be out.
But buying things online, Alibaba has done pretty well.
And, of course, these are the U .S.-listed shares of Alibaba, but they gained quite a lot after a pretty good third quarter.
Oh, absolutely. It's like the reverse of Walmart.
They talked about how good their business is doing, particularly in AI -related areas.
So they were very upbeat about virtually everything you could possibly talk about under the umbrella of this really large, powerful conglomerate.
Well, thanks for letting us know about, really, either end, I suppose, of retail.
Kerry, thanks so much for being with us.
Kerry Leahy there. Now, I remind you, I'm with World Business Report from the BBC World Service.
Now, President Trump's promise to deport millions and millions of undocumented immigrants isn't just a threat to families and individuals, it's also causing problems for local economies, particularly in big cities.
There are many small businesses owned and operated by undocumented immigrants.
They and their local markets are already feeling a chilling effect from Mr Trump's threat.
And North America business correspondent Michelle Fleury reports from New York.
This is the part that makes it nice and toasty.
At her Long Island bakery, Sara E.
Marquez carefully places the finishing touches on her croissants.
The 34 -year -old came to the United States at age six.
Now she runs this family restaurant alongside her father.
For her, the threat of deportation isn't new, but it's never felt this serious.
I still feel like I'm being persecuted, like I'm being hunted down because of my status.
It has taken on a new sense of urgency with President Trump's plans for mass deportation and led to some tough conversations with her staff.
I had a cook say to me, I'm scared to go home because I don't know if I will make it home.
I don't know if I will be stopped along the way.
I've seen business go down.
There's much fewer customers coming around.
We employ so many people, like I don't want to do that to them, put their lives at risk coming to work.
Despite her family's contributions to the local community, she's worried about the future.
I'm college educated, business owner of multiple businesses.
I do right. I'm part of the community.
But I'm still considered a criminal because of coming into the country as a child.
And I don't have a legal pathway to fix that.
In the Church St John the Divine, a vigil was held in New York to support migrants and promise sanctuary to the undocumented on the very same day that the Department of Justice sued the city over its immigration policies.
For those caught up in Donald Trump's immigration crackdown, this isn't just a personal tragedy, it's an economic one for their communities who rely on their labour, their tax revenues and the money they spend in local businesses.
Jessie Lee manages Renaissance, a non -profit that finances immigrant businesses.
Small businesses are the backbone of our economy.
I caught up with her in Queens where she was visiting one of her clients.
She sees a difference from the last time Trump was in the White House.
This fear is new. We didn't experience this the first time around.
But this time we do see that type of concern.
This one is for birds.
Yeah, we trap them and release them.
Raymond Liu runs a business, M &M Environmental, a pest control company that employs 70 people.
He came to the United States legally from China and understands what motivates people to seek a life here.
I would imagine everybody comes to the country, Legal or illegal, we want to work hard and, you know, just do well, establish ourselves, right?
That's the American dream.
The threats and hurdles are working.
People are scared, with immigrant communities feeling the strain.
Michel Fleury reporting there from New York.
Now, do you know what a Birkenstock is?
Well, it's a fairly simple sandal in a classic design and made by a German company.
They were once thought of as, well, a bit naff, but now, and especially since they featured in the Barbie film, they're rather cool.
But what they are not is art, and that has been decided in a German court.
The company claimed its footwear could be classified as art and so was protected by copyright laws in a case it put forward to stop rivals selling copycat versions of the sandals.
But a judge dismissed the claim, saying the shoes were practical design items.
That's a decision Birkenstock called a missed opportunity for the protection of intellectual property.
Well, Helen Reid's a European retail correspondent at Reuters News and joins us now.
Helen, thanks for being with us.
I mean, it seems an awful lot of, I don't know, effort about a sandal, but tell us about this court case.
So it is a bit of a loss for Birkenstock because Germany's highest civil court ruled that the sandals don't qualify as art.
And under German law, copyright protection for art is valid for 70 years after the creator's death, while design protection, on the other hand, ends after 25 years after the original filing.
So Karl Birkenstock created some of the original Birkenstock sandals in the 60s and 70s.
So under design protection, that protection is over, basically.
So Birkenstock tried to get copyright protection and to argue that these are art works.
But the judge deems that unfounded.
Well, it does seem hard to say a sandal is an art piece of art.
But I'm sure, you know, fervent sandal workers would disagree.
But actually it wasn't.
I mean, Birkenstock's results for the first quarter, actually, I think, came out today.
Was it a sort of double blow for them or was it good?
Yeah, it was pretty good, actually.
So I was covering that this afternoon, and the sales were very good for the holiday quarter from October to December, the crucial kind of holiday shopping season in the U .S.
and other key markets.
However, they didn't actually increase their outlook for this year, and the CEO kind of struck a bit of a note of caution about potential economic risks, such as tariffs.
So saying that that could cloud the kind of outlook for this year.
Well, I suppose it's one of those things where they win on one and they lose on the other in a sense.
But do you have Birkenstocks?
Do you wear them? I do have one pair of sandals, yes.
Yeah, I do wear them.
I find them quite comfortable, yeah.
But not artistic? Not sure they qualify as art.
Yeah, it is a funny thing, isn't it?
Because you think, well, you know, it's comfortable, it's nice, it's fine.
I mean, I can understand I suppose why they want to protect their brand, but it just seems an odd idea.
I mean, are they the most comfortable shoes you've ever worn?
Not necessarily, no.
But I think it comes down to basically the fact that many retailers and brands have created copycat versions of Birkenstocks.
And those have sold, you know, very widely and are priced often much cheaper than Birkenstocks.
We can expect a lot more of those, I think.
Thanks very much for talking to us.
Thank you so much.
