Trump Imposes 50% Tariff on Copper Imports, Citing National Security and Biden’s “Stupidity”
WASHINGTON – US President Donald Trump announced on Wednesday that a 50% tariff on copper imports will officially take effect on August 1, 2025. The decision, unveiled the previous day, has already sent copper prices soaring to new global highs. Writing on his Truth Social platform, Trump justified the move by citing a “robust NATIONAL SECURITY ASSESSMENT,” emphasizing copper’s critical role in advanced defense and industrial technologies.
According to Trump, copper is essential to the production of semiconductors, aircraft, ammunition, radar systems, missile defenses, and even hypersonic weapons, “of which we are building many.” He further underscored that copper is the second most widely used material by the US Department of Defense. Criticizing past administrations, he asked rhetorically: “Why did our foolish (and SLEEPY!) ‘Leaders’ decimate this important Industry?”
Labeling the Biden administration’s approach as “thoughtless” and “stupid,” Trump asserted that the new tariff would reverse those policies and help rebuild what he called a “DOMINANT Copper Industry.” Declaring the move part of “OUR GOLDEN AGE,” Trump’s decision is already reshaping global commodity markets and setting the stage for a heated trade and industrial policy debate.
