Trump adding copper to trade protections, Commerce secretary says

Source: The Hill

03/12/25 2:16 PM ET


Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said President Trump plans to introduce steep tariffs on copper imports after he directed Cabinet officials to investigate the country’s ability to rely on its domestic supply chain for the metal instead of foreign trade partners.

“The president wants steel and aluminum in America. And let me be clear, nothing’s going to stop that until we’ve got a big, strong domestic steel and aluminum capability,” Lutnick said during a Wednesday appearance on Fox Business Networks’ “Varney & Co.” “And, by the way, he’s going to add copper to that mix too,” he continued. No date was given for the levies but the president is expected to announce a new round of reciprocal tariffs on April 2.

Lutnick said Trump’s tariffs on outsourced goods are “essential to national security” as outlined in the president’s February executive order, which cites copper as having a “vital role” in defense applications, infrastructure, and emerging technologies, including clean energy, electric vehicles, and advanced electronics.

“Japan dumps steel. China dumps steel. What that means is they make it, they overproduce and they sell it dirt cheap to drive our – to try to drive our guys out of business,” Lutnick told Stuart Varney.

Read more: https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5191208-trump-adding-copper-to-trade-protections-commerce-secretary-says/

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If they do this, there will be so much copper theft from home construction sites, telecomm lines, and HVAC systems, you would be lucky to be able to get anything that uses copper, repaired.

We literally had some thieves cut the comm wires from the "Philly Portal" at Love Park here in Philly (one of those big outdoor streaming sceens that rotates views between different partner countries with 2-way streams), shoved the cables in a big rolling trash bin, and tried to escape on the El (complete with surveillance pics of them).