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Copper cathode sheets. (Oliver Bunic/Bloomberg)

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President Donald Trump said the U.S. would begin levying a 50% tariff on copper imports from Aug. 1, confirming a move that will hurt American producers of everything from automobiles to appliances.

The higher-than-expected levy was signaled by Trump in comments to reporters on July 8, but the president took to Truth Social late July 9 to confirm the start date — and blamed previous administrations for the decline of America’s copper clout.

“This 50% TARIFF will reverse the Biden Administration’s thoughtless behavior, and stupidity,” Trump said. “America will, once again, build a DOMINANT Copper Industry.”

The planned copper tariff opens up yet another front in Trump’s push to remake global trade and rebuild U.S. industries. He hopes the levies will bolster copper production, but industry executives have warned that mines and smelters will take years to build. In the meantime, manufacturers — which are reliant on copper imports for nearly half of their needs — will face materially higher costs than rivals elsewhere in the world.

I am announcing a 50% TARIFF on Copper, effective August 1, 2025, after receiving a robust NATIONAL SECURITY ASSESSMENT. Copper is necessary for Semiconductors, Aircraft, Ships, Ammunition, Data Centers, Lithium-ion Batteries, Radar Systems, Missile Defense Systems, and even,… — Trump Truth Social Posts On X (@TrumpTruthOnX)

While the confirmation removes key uncertainties surrounding the timing and scale of the tariffs, Trump’s latest remarks still leave out critical details sought by metals traders — from how the tariff will be initially enforced to which products will be covered and whether any suppliers will be granted exemptions.

Big price moves this week have lifted U.S. futures to a premium of about 25% over the London Metal Exchange, which sets global prices. That suggests traders are not convinced the full 50% tariff will be imposed universally. Still, some are now scrambling to get cargoes into the U.S. ahead of the Aug. 1 deadline, including by shifting deliveries to Hawaii and Puerto Rico to cut shipment times.

“Once the logistics pathways run out of time, we would expect arbitrage buying to slow, and pressure LME pricing,” said Lachlan Shaw, co-head of mining research at UBS Group AG. “What this implies for the Comex-to-LME spread will depend on final tariff levels, as well as product coverage, and the extent to which U.S. demand for copper is impacted by tariff-inclusive pricing.”

Copper on Comex in New York — which spiked to a record on July 8, before dropping back on July 9 — rose 2.5% to $5.6240 a pound at 12:13 p.m. in London. The LME price was up 1% after a five-day run of declines.

The president has already raised fees on steel and aluminum imports, and signaled more sectoral levies are in the works. That’s in addition to country-by-country tariffs that the White House is finalizing with dozens of its biggest trade partners, also set to take effect on Aug. 1.

Trump said copper was the second most-used metal by the Department of Defense, and his post listed products in which it’s needed, including ammunition. The tariff decision came after a “robust” national security review, he said. The so-called Section 232 report is not yet publicly available.

At present, the U.S. is highly reliant on imports, with flows coming from Chile, Canada and Mexico. Analysts and industry executives have warned it will take many years for the U.S. to build significant domestic capacity.

Trump’s tariff move won support from Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. founder Robert Friedland, according to the Financial Times, which cited an interview. Domestic production was “fundamental to America’s national security,” he told the newspaper. “Just in case we have a war, we have to have enough raw material to deal with it.”