Red Metal, Red Alert—Trump Rings the Copper Bell
Trump narrows copper tariff to semi-finished products, sparing miners but reshaping U.S. supply chain strategy under the guise of national security.
Editorial Team (ET)August 2, 2025
President Donald Trump has once again jolted global commodity markets with a headline-making move, this time targeting the red metal that powers everything from electric vehicles to infrastructure. In a surprise proclamation on Wednesday, Trump announced a 50 percent tariff on specific copper imports into the United States, narrowing the scope to cover only semi-finished copper goods like pipes and wiring. While this decision sent immediate shockwaves through the futures market, its real-world impact may be more nuanced than initially feared.
The market had braced for a sweeping blow. Earlier in July, Trump hinted that an across-the-board tariff on copper was imminent. Traders and analysts interpreted that as a potential full-spectrum levy on everything from copper ores and concentrates to refined cathodes and scrap. When Wednesday’s proclamation landed, however, it became clear that the administration had decided to hold its fire—for now. The tariffs, which come into effect Friday, will spare raw input materials like copper cathodes, anodes, mattes, scrap and concentrates. That’s a relief for global copper giants like Chile’s Codelco and Peru’s Southern Copper, who dominate the export of these early-stage products.
Instead, the levy will focus squarely on copper pipes, tubing, and other semi-finished copper products—industrially processed materials that U.S. manufacturers often import rather than make domestically. According to the White House proclamation, the decision followed a Section 232 national security investigation that concluded certain copper imports threaten to impair the United States’ defense readiness and economic resilience. The report, submitted on June 30 by Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, advised immediate action to protect critical supply chains.
