President Donald Trump on Wednesday slapped tariffs of up to 50 percent on certain copper imports and signaled that more duties may be on the way.
The president signed a proclamation that imposes tariffs on semifinished copper products and derivatives that kick in Friday, a move he said is critical to addressing “trade balances.”
Trump in the proclamation said he based the decision on an investigation that Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick recently wrapped up, which found that China largely controls the processing of copper and that a surge of cheap imports into the U.S. threatens to shutter U.S. projects and undermine national security.
A White House fact sheet clarified that the duties will affect copper pipes, wires, rods, sheets and tubes, as well as pipe fittings, cables, connectors and electrical components, starting Friday. But copper ores, concentrates, mattes, cathodes and anodes or copper scrap will not be affected, according to the fact sheet.
Trump also called on Lutnick to take steps under the Cold War-era Defense Production Act to support domestic copper and require 25 percent of high-quality copper scrap produced in the U.S. to be sold domestically.
“This will improve access to this important feedstock for domestic fabricators and secondary refiners,” the fact sheet asserts.
The White House is also requiring 25 percent of copper input materials — copper ores, concentrates, mattes, cathodes, and anodes — produced in the U.S.to be sold domestically by 2027, an amount that will includes to 40 percent by 2029.
“This will boost U.S. refining capacity by ensuring low-cost inputs while domestic refiners grow their operations,” said the White House fact sheet.
The Trump administration in recent months has moved to approve projects like the Resolution Copper mine in Arizona that some local tribal members and conservation groups have warned will decimate the holy ground known as Oak Flat.
The administration has also added a number of projects tied to copper exploration and production to its federal dashboard as “transparency projects,” and Trump officials have vowed to advance a stalled copper mining project near Minnesota’s pristine Boundary Waters.
Demand for the metal, which is essential for electric wiring and power grids, is slated to grow, with some reports suggesting production will not keep pace with demand. The International Energy Agency earlier this year predicted a 30 percent shortfall by 2030.
But conservation groups have questioned the need to make copper critical and argued that the U.S. is already a major copper producer and that Trump’s declaration of an energy emergency, which is fueling the push for more projects, is ill-founded.
