Trumping trade tariffs, thirsty business and getting a fix on privacy

China wasted no time in retaliating to the latest tranche of US tariffs in their escalating trade war, writes Clifford Coonan. Soybeans – where China is US growers' biggest market – and cars are among the targets after US President Donald Trump slapped charges on technology, transport and medical products imported from China as part of his drive to force changes in Beijing's intellectual property practices.

Drinks group C&C has acquired Matthew Clark, the leading independent distributor to the UK pub trade, and wine business Bibendum in what broker, Davy, has called a "transformational" move for its UK business, writes Ciara O'Brien

Butter truly is gold, at least for diary coop Dairygold, which reported record results. Eoin Burke-Kennedy says a "butter bubble" delivered an 85 per cent rise in profit on a 28 per cent increase in sales.

The Government figures are not quite so rosy, with tax marginally below target for the first quarter of 2018, according to exchequer returns published late yesterday. Eoin says lower than expected income tax is to blame but analysts are confident it will steady itself by year end.

Twice bitten, once shy: Alkermes can’t talk up its depression drug

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Nama offers to buy back some of its riskiest debt

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DAA says it made significant efforts to retain Cork-Boston winter route

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C&C shares jump 8.75% after purchase of Matthew Clark Bibendum

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Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg has agreed to testify before the US house energy and commerce committee on April 11th – his first time to appear before such a committee – as the social media giant battles to restore its reputation and defend its attitude to privacy.

Speaking of privacy, the new GDPR rules on data privacy will impact the sports transfer market as severely as Bosman in a previous generation, according to one sports data specialist. Mark Hilliard reports

And still on the subject, four years after it began, the high profile legal battle between Microsoft and the US department of justice over access to data housed in Ireland ended with a whimper, writes Karlin Lillington. But that might not be the end of the story.