President Trump signed an executive order Tuesday directing his commerce secretary, Howard Lutnick, to begin an investigation into whether foreign production of copper and imports of the material into the United States pose risks to America’s economic and national security.
White House officials said that, depending on the results of the investigation, new tariffs could be applied on copper, a material that is widely used in manufacturing and construction and is crucial to the U.S. military and emerging technologies like artificial intelligence.
White House officials were scant on details during a call with reporters on Tuesday afternoon, including when the investigation might conclude, what rate tariffs might be set at or when they would go into effect. It would all be figured out in “Trump time,” one official said repeatedly, which apparently meant quickly.
The potential tariffs would help to protect the domestic copper industry that the White House says has been undermined by unfair trade practices by other countries and is struggling to compete. Copper is, among other things, an essential component in the building of ships, aircrafts and tanks. The Trump administration framed it on Tuesday as an issue of national defense as much as an economic one, saying that the metals would be needed for electric vehicles and A.I. and that geopolitical turmoil could sever the United States from needed supplies.
“Tariffs can help build back our American copper industry, if necessary, and strengthen our national defense,” Mr. Lutnick said. “American industries depend on copper, and it should be made in America — no exemptions, no exceptions.”
“It’s time for copper to come home,” he added.
Like the tariffs on steel and aluminum that President Trump is promising to reinstate next month, copper tariffs will raise costs for a variety of other industries that depend on the metal and could generate pushback from them. That includes makers of automobiles, electronics and telecommunications equipment, as well as construction companies, which use copper for plumbing, roof construction and other uses.