The wave of announcements came as the clock ticked down toward an Aug 1 deadline for higher US tariff rates, as Trump presses on with his bid to reshape global trade.
Capping a day that began with Trump announcing a 25% tariff rate on goods from India, after months of negotiations between Washington and New Delhi failed to produce a trade deal, Trump said a 50% tariff on copper pipes and wiring would kick in tomorrow.
Trump plans to sign new executive orders today imposing higher tariff rates on several countries that have been unable to reach negotiated trade deals with the US, Politico reported, citing a White House official.
Details of the copper levy fell short of the sweeping restrictions expected and left out copper input materials such as ores, concentrates and cathodes.
The surprise move dragged down US copper prices more than 17% on the Comex exchange HGc2 and unwound a premium over the London global benchmark that had grown in recent weeks, with shipments diverted there in anticipation of higher domestic prices.
“Markets are now busily repricing refined copper much lower after Trump’s epic backflip on his own import tariff policy,” said Tom Price, an analyst at the London brokerage Panmure Liberum.
“Someone must have finally got through to (Trump) that the US economy simply can’t afford this new trade-hit,” Price said.
Trump first teased the copper tariff in early July, implying that it would apply to all types of the red metal, ranging from cathodes produced by mines and smelters to wiring and other finished products.
Yet the proclamation released by the White House said the tariff will apply only to pipes, tubes and other semi-finished copper products, as well as products that copper is heavily used to manufacture, including cable and electrical components.
The move aids manufacturers, but does little to boost the constrained US copper mining industry, which for years has asked Washington for permitting reform or other steps that could fuel growth.
The move is essentially a boost for Chile and Peru, two of the world’s largest copper miners and major suppliers to the US.
Brazil ‘not worst-case scenario’
Yesterday, Trump slapped a 50% tariff on most Brazilian goods to fight what he has called a “witch hunt” against former president Jair Bolsonaro, but softened the blow by excluding sectors such as aircraft, energy and orange juice from the heavier levies.
That came as a relief for many in Brasilia, who since Trump announced the tariffs had been urging protections for major exporters caught in the crossfire.
Shares of planemaker Embraer and pulpmaker Suzano rose.
“We’re not facing the worst-case scenario,” Brazilian Treasury Secretary Rogerio Ceron told reporters. “It’s a more benign outcome than it could have been.”
The new tariffs will go into effect on Aug 6, not Aug 1 as Trump announced originally.
South Korea ‘shipbuilding deal’
Trump also announced the US will charge a 15% tariff on imports from South Korea as part of a deal that eases, for now, tension with a top-10 trading partner and key Asian ally.
Imports from South Korea, a powerhouse exporter of computer chips, cars and steel, had faced a 25% rate.
“I am pleased to announce that the US of America has agreed to a full and complete trade deal with the Republic of Korea,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, shortly after he met with South Korean officials at the White House.
Trump said Seoul had agreed to invest US$350 billion in the US in projects selected by him and to purchase US$100 billion of liquefied natural gas and other energy products.
South Korean finance minister Koo Yoon-cheol said today that a shipbuilding partnership package dubbed “Make America Shipbuilding Great Again” was key to the tariffs agreement.
The shipbuilding partnership worth about US$150 billion will be led by South Korean shipbuilders to rebuild the US shipbuilding industry, Koo said.
The other US$200 billion would include funds for chips, nuclear power, batteries, and biologics, Kim Yong-beom, policy chief from the South Korean presidential office, told a briefing.
US commerce secretary Howard Lutnick said on X that the South Korean energy purchases would take place “over the next 3.5 years”.
‘De minimis’
The White House also said the US is suspending a “de minimis” exemption that allowed low-value commercial shipments to be shipped to the US without tariffs.
“Under Trump’s order, packages valued at or under US$800 sent to the US outside of the international postal network will now face “all applicable duties” starting on Aug 29,” the White House said.
Trump earlier targeted packages from China and Hong Kong. The tax-and-spending bill recently signed by Trump repealed the legal basis for the de minimis exemption worldwide starting on July 1, 2027.
Goods shipped through the postal system will face one of two tariffs: either an “ad valorem duty” equal to the effective tariff rate of the package’s country of origin or, for six months, a specific tariff of US$80 to US$200 depending on the country of origin’s tariff rate.