Copper market thunderstruck! Trump's proposed 50% copper tariff to be extended from semi-finished products to refined copper.

President Donald Trump has promised to impose a 50% copper tariff, expected to cover not only semi-finished copper, but also all refined copper produced globally outside of the United States, demonstrating the efforts of the U.S. President to strengthen domestic production of this globally widely used metal. Trump announced that the tariff will take effect on August 1, but did not disclose many details. However, according to insiders familiar with the situation who requested anonymity to discuss private negotiations, refined copper will be included in the tariff list. Refined copper, unlike semi-finished copper, is the largest category of metal imported into the United States, and including it in the tariff list will have an extremely widespread impact. Refined copper is crucial for electrical grid systems, construction, automotive manufacturing, consumer electronics, as well as for the booming construction of AI data centers in the United States. On Friday, media reports citing insiders revealed that semi-finished copper will be subject to tariffs. Insiders on Friday said that Trump's proposal to impose a 50% tariff on imported copper materials may include semi-finished copper in the tax range. However, so far, the details of Trump's government copper tariff plan have not been fully disclosed, and there is still a possibility of adjustments to the measures. If refined copper and semi-finished copper (mainly including wires, sheets, tubes, etc.) are ultimately included in the U.S. government's tax range, the policy impact will significantly expand beyond the market's expectations of just targeting certain countries with copper tariffs. The U.S.'s domestic copper production cannot meet its own demands, so it needs to import a large amount of copper semi-finished products from overseas. According to consulting firm MM Markets, which provides services to U.S. processors and recyclers, aside from refined copper, the estimated imports of copper and copper alloy semi-finished products last year reached 800,000 tons. This move is part of Trump's strategy to strengthen the U.S. copper industry chain, aiming to improve the entire supply chain layout from mining, smelting, processing, recycling, to semi-finished and final product manufacturing. Copper is widely used in sectors such as electricity, construction, industrial machinery, transportation, and communication, which are the core of global economic activities. Therefore, when the government implements policies to promote economic growth, as well as expansion of industrial production and infrastructure construction that rely on copper, the demand for copper will increase, leading to a rise in copper prices; conversely, when economic expansion slows or enters a recession, and when the global economy lacks new growth engines, the demand for copper sharply decreases, leading to a rapid decline in copper prices, hence earning copper the nickname "Dr. Copper". In the era of artificial intelligence and digital transformation, the construction of data centers is experiencing explosive growth in demand for copper. The power transmission, high-speed interconnection systems, cooling systems, and high-performance electronic devices of data centers are highly dependent on copper. This structural increase in demand is gradually becoming a new growth engine for the copper market. A White House official stated that the copper tariff measure has not yet been formalized, and rumors in the market should not be taken as final decisions until Trump makes an official announcement. According to these insiders, just hours after Trump unexpectedly announced the 50% copper tariff on Tuesday, the White House Economic Advisory Council met with industry representatives, who requested that the Trump administration not include restrictions on scrap copper exports. The United States is one of the largest producers of metal scrap in the world, with production exceeding domestic consumption every year, and excess metal is exported overseas. Major metal companies including mining giant Rio Tinto, processing company Southwire, and global commodity trader Trafigura have requested the White House to restrict ore and scrap metal exports instead of imposing taxes on imports.