10-07-2025
Traders Race to Ship Copper to US Before Trump's New Tariff Hits
Metals are the latest market upended by President Donald Trump after he confirmed long-touted plans to impose a 50% import tariff on copper from August. 'America will, once again, build a DOMINANT Copper Industry,' Trump wrote on Truth Social. The move is likely to hurt American producers of everything from automobiles to appliances that rely on the metal.
Copper traders are scrambling to get cargoes into the US before the new tariff comes into effect. Some are looking to shift deliveries into Hawaii and Puerto Rico to cut shipment times. Shipments from Asia to New Orleans typically take over a month, so any traders sending metal now would risk being caught on the wrong side of the tariff. The journey to Hawaii meanwhile is roughly ten days.
