Copper exempted from latest round of tariffs

Copper has been listed as one of four product types that will not be subject to a wide-ranging set of tariffs announced on April 2 by United States President Donald J. Trump.

Referred to in a White House fact sheet as “responsive tariffs,” President Trump spells out the rationale for and specific examples of other nations’ tariffs in that April 2 fact sheet, fully titled “Fact Sheet: President Donald J. Trump Declares National Emergency to Increase our Competitive Edge, Protect our Sovereignty, and Strengthen our National and Economic Security.”

Early in the text of the announcement, the White House states the new tariffs will not overlap existing ones on steel, aluminum, passenger vehicles and auto parts. The administration also writes, “Some goods will not be subject to the Reciprocal Tariff,” listing “copper, pharmaceuticals, semiconductors and lumber articles.”

The fact sheet does not specify which Harmonized Tariff System (HTS) coded items fit that definition of copper.

In the first 11 months of 2024, the U.S. imported just 40 metric tons of copper concentrates and ore but some 813,00 metric tons of refined copper, according to U.S. Census Bureau data aggregated by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).

During that same time frame, the U.S. imported about 129,000 metric tons of copper-bearing scrap material. That was far outweighed by the more than 873,000 metric tons of red metal scrap exported from the U.S., with the largest buyer by far being the People’s Republic of China, followed by Canada, Thailand, Malaysia and India.

While the U.S. is a net exporter of red metal scrap, the Trump administration announcement emphasizes commodities, products and destinations where the U.S. is in a trade deficit situation.

“This imbalance has fueled a large and persistent trade deficit in both industrial and agricultural goods, led to offshoring of our manufacturing base, empowered nonmarket economies like China and hurt America’s middle class and small towns,” writes the White House office.

The president cites tariffs on American-made vehicles of 10 percent in the European Union and 70 percent in India; 50 percent and 60 percent tariffs on U.S. apples in Turkey and India respectively; a 30 percent tariff on ethanol in Indonesia; and tariffs on exported U.S. rice of 80 percent in India, 40 percent in Malaysia and 31 percent in Turkey.

The fact sheet and a White House press conference occurred toward the end of business hours in the U.S. and after stock markets had closed in New York.

Reactions nonetheless are being issued or are evident in after-hours trading on U.S. exchanges.

The Washington-based Recycled Materials Association (ReMA), in a statement issued Wednesday evening, says it “has long supported free and fair trade policies” but adds, “The imposition of new tariffs on our international trading partners will significantly disrupt U.S. manufacturing and recycling operations that depend on recycled material inputs.”

ReMA continues, “The U.S. recycled materials industry is a net exporter and supports nearly 600,000 jobs nationwide, with the exports of recyclables helping to reduce the U.S. trade deficit. U.S. recyclers rely on international market access to support their workforce and these new tariffs, and any retaliatory measures they may provoke, will only reduce the competitiveness of our industry and the manufacturers that rely on recycled materials.”

News of the exemption of copper became evident on the Comex market, where the value of the red metal had been rising for weeks based on anticipated White House tariffs on imported copper.

During the trading day on April 2, the price of Comex copper fell by about 1.8 percent, closing at nearly $5.04 per pound. As of about 9 p.m. Eastern Time Wednesday evening, Comex copper’s price fell another 2.7 percent, with a 9:13 p.m. trade made at about $4.90 per pound.

After-hours trading on Wall Street also seemed to question the wisdom of the additional tariff policies being enacted. Skeptics have predicted the growing heft of tariffs will increase supply chain costs for manufacturers and retailers and ultimately create inflation that will bite into the disposable income of household consumers.

As of about 9:20 p.m. Wednesday evening, the S&P futures index was down nearly 3 percent in after-hours trading, and the value of the Nasdaq 100 index had dropped by more than 3.6 percent.

Sampling some recycling-specific stocks, the value of Nucor shares had dropped by 2.4 percent, and those of International Paper declined some 3.3 percent in after-hours trading. Offering better news, shares of Smurfit Westrock were gaining in after-hours trading (up 0.47 percent), and shares of Republic Services Inc. were up by an identical 0.47 percent.