Trump Implementing A 50% Tariff On Copper Imports - Here's Why And The Companies Affected
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An Introduction
Trump has announced that he will be implementing a 50% tariff on copper imports effective August 1st - which will bring copper tariffs in line with U.S. duties on imports of steel and aluminum, which Trump doubled to 50% in early June - after he received a supposedly "robust national security assessment". justifying the tariff based on the fact that "copper is the second most used material by the Department of Defense and necessary for semiconductors, aircraft, ships, ammunition, data centers, lithium-ion batteries, radar systems, missile defense systems, and even hypersonic weapons, of which we are building many."
U.S. Copper Imports: What You Need To Know
Total Global Mining and Refining
While China dominates global copper refining, most of the ore that feeds into its smelters is mined elsewhere. The DRC is now the world's second-largest copper miner after overtaking Peru, due in large part to massive Chinese investment in the African country's mining sector. Chile and Peru together mined roughly a third of global copper last year, according to the USGS.
The Americas
The United States produces just over 50% of the refined copper it consumes each year, of which approximately 70% is mined in Arizona, with 90% of the remaining refined copper being imported from Chile, Canada, and Peru, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS). Congo (DRC) and Mexico make up the balance.
Here’s a list of notable copper refining and mining companies that are publicly traded on Canadian and/or American stock exchanges:
Canadian-Listed Copper Companies (TSX/TSXV)
| Company Name | Ticker | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Teck Resources Ltd. | TECK.B.TO | Diversified miner with growing copper focus |
| 2. Lundin Mining Corp. | LUN.TO | Mid-tier miner with global copper operations |
| 3. First Quantum Minerals | FM.TO | Major copper producer with assets in Africa and the Americas |
| 4. Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. | IVN.TO | Operates the Kamoa-Kakula copper mine in the DRC |
| 5. Capstone Copper Corp. | CS.TO | Focused on copper production in the Americas |
| 6. Hudbay Minerals Inc. | HBM.TO | Copper and zinc producer with operations in Canada and Peru |
| 7. Ero Copper Corp. | ERO.TO | High-grade copper producer in Brazil |
| 8. Western Copper & Gold | WRN.TO | Developer of the Casino copper-gold project in Yukon, Canada |
| 9. Faraday Copper Corp. | FDY.TO | Junior explorer with U.S.-based copper assets |
U.S.-Listed Copper Companies (NYSE/NASDAQ)
| Company Name | Ticker | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. | FCX | One of the world’s largest copper producers; operates Grasberg mine |
| 2. Southern Copper Corp. | SCCO | Major copper producer; majority-owned by Grupo Mexico |
| 3. BHP Group | BHP | Australian giant with major copper operations in Chile and Australia |
| 4. Rio Tinto Group | RIO | Global miner with copper assets in Mongolia and the U.S. |
| 5 Ivanhoe Electric Inc. | IE | U.S.-based copper and critical minerals explorer |
| 6. Taseko Mines Ltd. | TGB | A Canadian company |
Conclusion
The performance of the above stocks will be tracked on a monthly basis going forward to determine what effect the 50% tariff will have on their stock prices.
This article has been composed with the exclusive application of the human intelligence (HI) of the author. No artificial intelligence (AI) technology has been deployed.
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