The American president Donald Trump has introduced a new import tariff of 50 percent on copper. The levy will take effect on August 1st.
The Trump administration announced an investigation in February into the risks of copper imports for national security, which is often a harbinger of import levies. Such investigations also preceded earlier levies on steel and aluminum.
“Copper is needed for semiconductors, airplanes, ships, ammunition, data centers, radar systems, missile defense systems, and even hypersonic weapons, of which we are building many,” Trump says in a message on Truth Social.
Furthermore, the American president announces that he is implementing the measure after a “robust” national security analysis.
According to Trump, copper is the second most used metal by the U.S. Department of Defense. “The U.S. will build a dominant copper industry again.”
The American industry is largely dependent on the import of copper from Chile, Canada, and Mexico. Last year, approximately 810,000 tons of copper were imported by the United States.