President Trump signed an government order Tuesday directing his commerce secretary, Howard Lutnick, to start an investigation into whether or not overseas manufacturing of copper and imports of the fabric into the USA pose dangers to America’s financial and nationwide safety.
White Home officers mentioned that, relying on the outcomes of the inquiry, new tariffs may very well be utilized on copper, which is extensively utilized in manufacturing and building and is essential to the U.S. navy and rising applied sciences like synthetic intelligence.
White Home officers had been scant on particulars throughout a name with reporters Tuesday about when the inquiry may conclude or what price tariffs is perhaps set at, saying they didn’t wish to prejudge the outcomes of the investigation.
Peter Navarro, a senior counselor for commerce and manufacturing, mentioned that Mr. Lutnick would transfer “in Trump time, which is as shortly as doable, and get the outcomes of his investigation to the president’s desk for doable motion.”
The potential tariffs would assist to guard the home copper trade that the White Home says has been undermined by unfair commerce practices by different international locations and is struggling to compete. Copper is, amongst different issues, a vital part within the constructing of ships, aircrafts and tanks.
The Trump administration framed it on Tuesday as a problem of nationwide protection as a lot as an financial one, saying that the metals could be wanted for the navy, electrical autos and synthetic intelligence, and that geopolitical turmoil might sever the USA from wanted provides.
“Tariffs might help construct again our American copper trade, if obligatory, and strengthen our nationwide protection,” Mr. Lutnick mentioned. “American industries rely upon copper, and it needs to be made in America — no exemptions, no exceptions.”
“It’s time for copper to come back dwelling,” he added.
Just like the tariffs on metal and aluminum that President Trump is promising to reinstate subsequent month, copper tariffs would increase prices for a wide range of different industries that rely upon the steel and will generate pushback from them. That features makers of vehicles, electronics and telecommunications tools, in addition to building firms, which use copper for plumbing, roof building and different makes use of.
The tariffs might additionally spur new fights with international locations that ship steel to the USA. America’s largest overseas supply of copper is Chile, which sends the equal of $4.63 billion of the steel to the USA annually, adopted extra distantly by Canada, Peru, Mexico and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
U.S. copper manufacturing has been falling over time. The nation mined an estimated 1.1 million metric tons of copper in 2024, down roughly 20 % in a decade, in line with information from the U.S. Geological Survey.
China can be a significant international producer of copper however sends comparatively little to the USA due to beforehand imposed tariffs. However White Home officers say that Chinese language copper manufacturing has nonetheless pushed down international costs and that China has been snapping up copper assets globally.
Mr. Navarro mentioned within the name with reporters Tuesday that China had “lengthy used industrial overcapacity and dumping as an financial weapon to dominate international markets” and systematically undercut opponents from different international locations.
“It’s now utilizing that very same mannequin to achieve management of the world’s copper markets,” he mentioned.
Copper costs have climbed this 12 months, forward of anticipated tariffs and continued resilience in manufacturing exercise, in line with a notice earlier this month from analysts at Citigroup. The US consumed about $17 billion of copper in 2024, and imported about 45 % of that quantity, the analysts mentioned.
Requested how the president had chosen to take up the problem of copper, a Trump administration official on the decision mentioned that Mr. Trump has the flexibility to foresee far into the longer term what others may miss. The official made a reference to a 1988 interview through which Mr. Trump talked to Oprah Winfrey about commerce with Japan, and mentioned that trade presaged how the president would take into consideration retaliation towards overseas governments that had been “dishonest” the USA.
Mr. Trump has threatened to impose tariffs on a wide range of imports, together with metal, aluminum, vehicles and prescription drugs. He additionally got here inside hours earlier this month of imposing tariffs on Canadian and Mexican exports, saying the international locations weren’t doing sufficient to cease the move of medication and migrants into the USA. He paused these tariffs for a month, however mentioned this week they might go into impact March 4 as deliberate.
Mr. Trump additionally imposed an extra 10 % tariff on all merchandise from China, which introduced retaliatory tariffs from the Chinese language on American exports. And he has launched a plan to dramatically reform U.S. tariff charges on different international locations, by altering them to reciprocate the tariff ranges that different international locations cost the USA, in addition to capturing sure commerce behaviors he deems unfair.
The copper investigation will probably be carried out underneath Part 232 of the Commerce Growth Act, which permits the president to impose tariffs on overseas merchandise within the curiosity of nationwide safety. By legislation, the commerce secretary has 270 days to current findings from the investigation to the president.
A White Home official mentioned the investigation would come with uncooked mined copper, refined copper, alloys, scrap and sure by-product merchandise which can be made with copper.
Rebecca F. Elliott contributed reporting.
