Your morning briefing, the business news you need in just 15 minutes.

On today's podcast:

(1) President Donald Trump ordered a 25% tariff on steel and aluminum imports, escalating his efforts to protect politically important US industries with levies hitting some of the country’s closest allies.

(2) President Donald Trump has agreed to consider an exemption for Australia from US tariffs on steel and aluminum following a telephone call with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, even after he initially said there would be no exceptions from the imposts.

(3) The growing prospect of a trade war comes as the the UK's new ambassador to the US -- Peter Mandelson -- says it's important for allies to respect Trump's electoral mandate.

(4) A group of investors led by Elon Musk has offered to buy the nonprofit that controls OpenAI for $97.4 billion, escalating a clash between the Tesla chief executive and the artificial intelligence company he co-founded.

(5) A Bank of England voting member who backed an outsized interest rate cut last week sees companies struggling to raise prices as consumers pull back on spending.

(6) Europe is teetering on the edge of its next energy crisis after natural gas prices soared to the highest in two years.

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