Copper Awaits Trump Tariff Decision

Bloomberg reports US Copper Inflows Surge as Market Awaits Trump Tariff Call

Copper is pouring into the US at the fastest rate in at least 12 years as traders position ahead of President Donald Trump's decision on tariffs on refined imports.

About 200,000 metric tons arrived in July, the biggest monthly inflow on record in IHS Markit shipping data going back to 2014. About 110,860 tons are stored at US ports outside the London Metal Exchange's warrant system.

The influx is being closely watched as the hoard has been built at the expense of supplies in the rest of the world. Inventories in LME warehouses outside the US have fallen sharply this year as traders diverted metal to American ports to capture higher prices.

The flows have accelerated even after a June 30 deadline for Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick to recommend action on tariffs passed without an announcement. Producers, consumers and traders are awaiting clarity as the White House weighs whether to extend protection from semi-finished copper products to raw metal.

Meanwhile, Comex copper in New York continues to trade at a hefty premium to the LME, preserving an arbitrage that encourages shipments into the US.

Official Comex inventories have climbed more than 40% this year to a record, while the total US copper hoard is widely estimated at well above 1 million metric tons. The threat of tariffs is allowing the US to build stockpiles of a metal increasingly viewed as strategic for power grids, artificial intelligence, electric vehicles and defense.

Biggest Copper Stockpile on Record

These positions have been building since March of 2025.