Howard Lutnick, commerce secretary, later said in an interview with CNBC that he expected the copper tariffs<\/a> to be put into place as soon as the end of this month, or early August. <\/p>\n The spectre of higher tariff rates set off a rush to lock-in prices for the metal, which is widely used in electronics, construction and industrial equipment. Copper futures traded in New York soared 13 per cent to $5.69 a pound, marking both a record closing high and the biggest jump on records stretching to 1969, according to FactSet data.<\/p>\n Shares in US copper miner Freeport-McMoRan surged almost 3 per cent. <\/p>\n JPMorgan analysts noted \u201cthe market will be surprised\u201d by the level of the proposed levy, adding that the Wall Street bank had pencilled in a 25 per cent tariff rate for imports of refined copper. <\/p>\n Chile is by far the biggest supplier of refined copper to the US, accounting for about 70 per cent of imports in dollar terms \u2014 followed by Canada and Peru, according to customs data collated by Trade Data Monitor. <\/p>\n Rosario Navarro, president of Chile\u2019s industrial business lobby, warned tariffs as high as 50 per cent could cause a \u201csubstantial worsening\u201d in the country\u2019s trade conditions. <\/p>\n Pierre Gratton, president of the Mining Association of Canada, said billions of dollars\u2019 worth of energy infrastructure, such as copper piping, was shipped to the US as part of an integrated North American industry.<\/p>\n He added the US did not have enough copper refining capacity or smelters and relied on Canadian imports of the metal, adding such high tariff rates would \u201churt US manufacturing\u201d. <\/p>\n Trump\u2019s proposed copper tariffs came a day after he sent letters to 14 trading partners<\/a>, including Japan<\/a> and South Korea, threatening to hit them with steep levies if they do not make a trade deal by August 1. The president on Tuesday said in a post on Truth Social that he would make trade announcements related to at least seven more countries on Wednesday. <\/p>\n Trump\u2019s latest barrage of tariff announcements pushes trade back to the fore, after recent weeks have been dominated by his vigorous lobbying effort to push his \u201cbig, beautiful\u201d fiscal bill through Congress, along with the US\u2019s air strike against Iranian nuclear facilities. <\/p>\n Trump also on Tuesday foreshadowed the results of an investigation into pharmaceuticals, which includes finished generic and brand-name drug products, and critical inputs such as active ingredients.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re going to give people about a year, year and a half to come in, and after that they\u2019re going to be tariffed if they have to bring the pharmaceuticals into the country at a very high rate, like 200 per cent,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n The S&P 500 pharmaceuticals index fell from the day\u2019s highs after the president\u2019s announcement, but still closed up 0.7 per cent. <\/p>\n With at least a year before tariffs kick in, Washington lobbyists said they did not pose a significant threat to pharmaceutical companies in the near term. \u201cClassic Trump hyperbole,\u201d said one lobbyist.<\/p>\n The US has already announced steep tariffs on cars and steel as a result of national security probes but has pending investigations into pharmaceuticals, copper, lumber, aerospace, chips and consumer electronics.<\/p>\n Recommended<\/p>\n![\"Bar](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/https:\/\/d6c748xw2pzm8.cloudfront.net\/prod\/fab54d50-5c45-11f0-9fb5-798482f092b8-standard.png\")
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