President Donald Trump on Tuesday signed an executive order directing Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick to investigate implementing tariffs on copper imports with the goal of increasing domestic production.
Trump said in the order that America’s reliance on other countries for copper seriously undermined national security. With that in mind, he directed Lutnick to examine potential tariffs on copper, export controls, and other incentives to increase copper production in the United States.
“Copper is a critical material essential to the national security, economic strength, and industrial resilience of the United States,” Trump said in the executive order. “The United States faces significant vulnerabilities in the copper supply chain, with increasing reliance on foreign sources for mined, smelted, and refined copper.”
Trump said copper was useful for defense applications,…
