The European Union plans to double the duty on steel imports to 50%, matching the tariffs being levied in the US in an effort to preserve the 27-nation bloc’s heavy industry. It also plans to cut by nearly half the volume of steel that’s allowed in before the higher rate takes effect. 

While Europe’s steel industry has been demanding tighter measures for months, policymakers are coming around because of the risk that manufacturing could shift outside the bloc. Some leaders have also pointed to steel’s importance for arms manufacturing. “Our reality today and tomorrow is security and security means armaments and armaments means steel,” Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk told us yesterday. 

European steelmakers shifting to cleaner but more costly production methods are facing twin challenges from Beijing and Washington. US markets have narrowed after the Trump administration imposed its own tariffs on imports. Meanwhile, Chinese overcapacity threatens to swamp EU markets already losing share in key industries. 

The knock-on impact from the EU steel duties could spread far and wide. Ukraine steelmaker Metinvest, owned by billionaire Rinat Akhmetov, is trying to extend the maturity of its debt. New hurdles to selling next door will be of interest to creditors. At home in the EU, steel-hungry companies like Siemens Energy, which is already bumping against the limits of manufacturing capacity, may experience ripples in their supply chains. To track the causes and effects of the world’s burgeoning trade war, click here. —Jonathan Tirone

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Belgium poured cold water on an EU proposal to use frozen assets belonging to the Russian Central Bank as collateral to raise financing for Ukraine’s defense. The proposal to unlock €140 billion ($164 billion) is a “big gamble” which requires ironclad risk sharing,  Belgian Prime Minister Bart de Wever said. His comments diverged from more up-beat assessments offered by other EU leaders. The debate is unfolding as Europeans remain on edge over potential hybrid attacks by Russia.  Poland reported today an unspecified incident on its Baltic coast. For its part, Russia is drafting plans to potentially seize EU assets in retaliation. A Moscow court today ordered the nationalization of billionaire Denis Shtengelov’s snack empire after prosecutors claimed it  provided support to Ukraine.

The golden domes of the Annunciation Cathedral at the Kremlin in Moscow. Photographer: MLADEN ANTONOV/AFP

A new quantum venture fund is being capitalized to the tune €300 million by the owners of Novo Nordisk and the Danish government. It’s a bid to boost Europe’s tech standing by focusing on quantum computing. The new fund was announced as private equity players seek to gain purchase in Europe’s evolving investment climate. More companies are starting to consider going public, bankers tell us, noting substantial green shoots lifting capital markets for the first time in years. Underscoring those observations, German artificial intelligence language platform DeepL is exploring a potential initial public offering. 

Morocco’s most serious wave of unrest since the Arab Spring turned deadly overnight, escalating youth-led protests over poor public services and heavy spending for the 2030 football World Cup. Two people were killed and several others wounded in the southern town of Lqliaa, near Agadir, after Royal Gendarmerie officers opened fire on a crowd of demonstrators. Morocco, which will host football’s top men’s event with Spain and Portugal, is priming billions of dollars in investments in infrastructure and stadiums in the runup. That’s stirring anger in the country of 38 million people, where the spending is seen as lavish when measured against rampant youth unemployment and deficient state healthcare and education.

A police vehicle set on fire during a protest in Sale, Morocco, on Oct. 1. Photographer: ABDEL MAJID BZIOUAT/AFP

Global chipmakers’ shares boomed in the wake of ChatGPT-owner OpenAI’s record $500 billion valuation. The bullishness has pushed the combined market capitalization of the Philadelphia Stock Exchange Semiconductor Index and a gauge tracking Asia chip stocks up by just over $200 billion in the latest session, according our calculations.  Current and former OpenAI employees sold about $6.6 billion of stock to investors including Thrive Capital, SoftBank, Dragoneer Investment Group, Abu Dhabi’s MGX and T. Rowe Price, we’re told. That boosted the US company’s price tag well past its previous $300 billion level during a SoftBank-led financing round round earlier this year. Still, Bloomberg Opinion columnist Liam Denning cautions that OpenAI’s leadership should bank a little more on nuance and realism. 

The fight to fix prostate cancer is taking a new turn as doctors are pushing beyond the binary alternatives previously offered. Among the most commonly diagnosed  nonskin cancers, prostate cancer is on the rise, especially as populations age, putting more men into the risk zone. Diagnostics and therapies for prostate cancer generated about $12 billion to $15 billion worldwide last year, and analysts expect that figure to double by the mid-2030s. For decades, treatment has swung between two extremes: screening too much and cutting too aggressively, or screening too little and allowing lethal cancers to spread undetected.

At least two people were killed in a vehicle and knife attack on a synagogue in Manchester, causing UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer to leave a European summit in Denmark early. Starmer will host a meeting of the government’s emergency committee, known as Cobra, in response to the attack on Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish calendar. On his way back to Britain from Copenhagen, Starmer said that additional officers were being deployed to synagogues across the country. Police are treating the incident as terrorism.

The collapse of the last remaining Icelandic budget airline this week has put an abrupt end to the volcanic island’s pit stop for frugal transatlantic travelers. Fly Play ceased operations earlier this week because of poor ticket sales and an unsuccessful turnaround plan. Thousands of passengers were stranded, and hundreds of people lost their jobs. Meanwhile, Ryanair expects to cancel 600 flights a day next week when French air traffic controllers walk off the job in a dispute over pay. Europe’s biggest discount airliner may call off as many as 1,800 flights Oct. 7-9. 

An Airbus A321neo operated by Play Air. Photographer: Sigga Ella/Bloomberg

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