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Trade War: US Copper Goes High After Trump Proposed 50% Tariff
US copper prices soared to a record on Tuesday after Donald Trump said Washington would impose 50 per cent tariffs on the industrial metal in the latest escalation of the president’s trade war.
“Today we’re doing copper,” Trump said before a cabinet meeting, adding he believed the tariffs would be 50 per cent.
The remarks opened the latest front in the US president’s sweeping trade wars, after Trump sent letters setting tariff rates for more than a dozen nations that will come into force on August 1.
US copper prices soared to a record on Tuesday after Donald Trump said Washington would impose 50 per cent tariffs on the industrial metal in the latest escalation of the president’s trade war.
”Trump said before a cabinet meeting, adding he believed the tariffs would be 50 per cent.
The remarks opened the latest front in the US president’s sweeping trade wars, after Trump sent letters setting tariff rates for more than a dozen nations that will come into force on August 1.
Trump later said he would make trade announcements related to at least seven more countries on Wednesday.
The spectre of higher tariff rates on copper set off a rush to lock in supplies and prices for the metal, which is widely used in electronics, construction and industrial equipment.
Howard Lutnick, commerce secretary, said in a CNBC interview that he expected the copper to be put into place as soon as the end of this month, or early August.
Copper futures traded in New York soared 13 per cent to $5.69 a pound, marking an all-time closing high and the biggest jump on records stretching to 1969, according to FactSet data. LME copper futures fell in Asia trading hours, before paring losses.
“Our expectation is official confirmation of a 50 per cent rate within weeks and implementation within 30 days,” Citi analysts said.
“We think this is a watershed moment for the copper market in 2025 as imminent flagged tariff implementation should abruptly close the window for further significant US-bound copper shipments — possibly for the rest of 2025,” they added.
Prices in New York jumped to an “unprecedented” 25 per cent premium over futures on the London Metal Exchange, said Daniel Hynes, a senior commodity strategist at ANZ, in a note.
