Copper rose in London — following a collapse in New York — after US President Donald Trump shocked the metals world by exempting the most widely traded forms of copper from his hotly anticipated import tariffs.
The industrial metal rose as much as 1.2% on the London Metal Exchange, before paring some gains. Earlier, futures on the Comex exchange plunged by their most ever after the White House unveiled details of the 50% tariffs which showed refined copper — widely traded on global exchanges — was left out.
The exemption removes the reason for the big premium of New York prices over London. It should spur traders to unwind bets on that gap and to cover short positions on the LME. Prices on the Comex were trading down 19% to $4.548 a pound in early trading in Asia on Thursday.
The decision is the latest surprise from Trump to upend the copper market. When the president first flagged the likelihood of tariffs early this year, US prices soared relative to the rest of the world and traders raced to get the metal to America to rack up profits. Some industry veterans said it was the biggest trade of their lifetimes.
Now, the decision to exclude refined copper from the tariffs will roil global trade flows of the metal, which plays a crucial role in the global economy thanks to its widespread use in electrical wiring. The massive volumes that have been shipped to the US in recent months created a huge stockpile that could potentially be re-exported.
The move to differentiate between refined metal and semi-processed products in the tariff policy follows lobbying from the US copper industry, with some key players arguing that the nation didn’t have sufficient capacity to replace all of its imports immediately.
The 50% import tariff announced on Wednesday will apply to semi-finished products such as pipes, wires, rods, sheets and tubes, and to copper-intensive goods like pipe fittings, cables, connectors and electrical components, according to the White House statement. Less processed goods — including ore, concentrates, mattes, cathodes and anodes — are not subject to the tariffs.
Still, the prospect of import tariffs on refined copper may not have entirely disappeared. A proclamation published by the White House on Wednesday stated that the Department of Commerce had recommended a delayed imposition of import tariffs on refined metal, with the rate set at 15% starting in 2027, rising to 30% in 2028.
Trump directed the Secretary of Commerce to provide an update on US copper markets by the end of June 2026, so that the president could determine whether such “a phased universal import duty on refined copper” would be warranted.
Copper was up 0.4% to $9,733.50 a ton as of 9:24 a.m. Shanghai time.
With assistance from Joe Deaux, Andrew Janes, Winnie Zhu and Alfred Cang.
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
