Quebec braces for biggest hit from Trump's metal tariffs
This country is America's second-largest source of imported copper after Chile.
But as with Mr. Trump's earlier tariffs on steel and aluminum, the new U.S. copper tax, which he said would kick in on Aug. 1, will fall heaviest on Central Canada, and in particular, Quebec, wrote Robert Kavcic, senior economist at Bank of Montreal, in a note.
'Regionally, Quebec remains in the crosshairs, accounting for most of Canada's U.S. copper shipments,' he wrote. 'That would leave combined metal exports exposed to high tariffs north of 3 per cent of GDP, or twice the next closest province.'
Copper is widely used in everything from construction to automobiles to appliances, and the spike in prices since Mr. Trump's tariff announcement will hit the bottom lines of a large number of industries.
The impact of the tariff on jobs in Quebec, home to Canada's sole copper smelting facility and a major copper refinery, is still unclear. While it will take the U.S. years to build up its own copper mining, smelting and refining capacity, higher prices could put Quebec's copper industry at a disadvantage to rivals in China that can produce at lower costs.
'Even if a copper tariff would be relatively contained, it would be another shot that impacts business confidence more broadly,' Mr. Kavcic wrote.
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