Trump may implement copper import tariffs within weeks

Joe Deaux, Josh Wingrove, James Attwood and Jennifer A. Dlouhy, Bloomberg News on Mar 25, 2025

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U.S. tariffs on copper imports could be coming within several weeks, months earlier than the deadline for a decision, according to people familiar with the matter.

U.S. President Donald Trump in February directed the Commerce Department to open an investigation into potential copper tariffs and submit a report within 270 days, though it’s now expected to be resolved sooner, said the people who asked not to be identified because the discussions are confidential.

The investigation already is looking like little more than a formality, some of the people said, with Trump having regularly said he plans to impose the tariffs.

The administration is proceeding expeditiously with the review, and a conclusion could be possible well before the 270-day deadline, an official familiar with the process said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The White House declined to comment. In February, Peter Navarro, a White House trade adviser, said the investigation would proceed quickly.

“You will see our new secretary of commerce, Howard Lutnick, will move in what I like to call Trump time, which is quickly as possible to get results of the investigation on the president’s desk for possible action,” Navarro said.

Trump has threatened to impose a duty of as much as a 25% on all copper imports, a move that could roil the global market for one of the world’s most ubiquitous metals, which is used in pipes and electrical cables.

Implementing copper tariffs with such haste would stand in stark contrast to the investigations that preceded steel and aluminum tariffs imposed by Trump during his first administration. They took some 10 months to complete.

The timeline is also significant as the so-called futures curve indicated Tuesday afternoon traders were paying a 5% premium to buy the metal for December delivery, but almost no premium in May. It indicates the market currently doesn’t expect the US to implement the tariff until later this year.

Copper traded in New York already surged above other international benchmarks after Trump’s hint of tariffs in January. The price gap between buying Copper in New York and London hit a fresh all-time high this week of more than $1,400 a ton.

The large price differential between London and New York created a worldwide dash among traders and dealers to ship the red metal to America to capture a lucrative premium. Such a move has left the rest of the world, especially top consumer China, short of the metal.

The president, in his March 5 address to a joint session of Congress, stirred uncertainty when he sought to defend his tariffs. Trump said he had imposed a 25% tariff on foreign aluminum, steel, lumber and copper — a possible slip of the tongue given he only set in motion a formal copper investigation weeks prior.

Analysts at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Citigroup Inc. in notes to clients have said they expect the US will impose a 25% copper tariff by year’s end. The world’s largest copper-trading firm, Trafigura, has said the price could hit $12,000, from about $10,000 currently.

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(With assistance from Yvonne Yue Li.)