Why Copper Prices Are Falling After Trump’s 50% Tariff Order

Copper prices took a dive after President Donald Trump signed a new order. (ANDREJ IVANOV / AFP / Getty Images)

Copper prices plunged Thursday, putting futures on pace for its largest one-day percentage drop on record in about 40 years.

Both front-month and active copper futures declined 22%, to $4.35 a pound. Futures fell nearly 12% on 1987’s Black Monday.

On Wednesday, President Donald Trump announced a 50% tariffs on some copper imports. Typically, prices would surge—not sink.

But the drop could be an overreaction to the tariff news, said Jeffrey deGraaf, head of Renaissance Macro Research.

While deGraaf said he thinks copper is now technically “oversold” but still within its broader trend, the market needs some time to stabilize. He said he expects volatility to probably “decay from here.”

“We see backing and filling taking place for the remainder of the summer, but we’re more buyers than sellers, but will await an environment marketed by apathy versus a panic,” deGraaf wrote in a Thursday report.

Copper prices dropped 20% Wednesday afternoon, likely because the tariffs won’t be applied as broadly as feared. Copper input materials and copper scrap will be excluded. The tariffs on imports of semifinished copper products, including copper ores, concentrated, and alloys will take effect this Friday, according to a White House Fact Sheet.

Created with Highcharts 9.0.1Copper pricesSource: FactSetNote: continuous futures contractAs of July 31, 3:56 p.m. ET

Created with Highcharts 9.0.1July 2025July 314.254.504.755.005.255.505.75$6.00

Trump threatened copper tariffs of 50% on July 8. At the time, front-month copper futures surged about 13% to $5.65, the largest one-day gain on record according to Dow Jones Market Data, as traders braced for a broader tax that included refined copper.

The Trump administration said the new tariffs, which are enacted under Section 232, are part of the president’s goals to address “trade imbalances” and level the playing field for U.S. copper businesses.

The U.S. relies on copper imports for roughly 45% of its annual copper consumption, according to a recent report from the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Uses for the material are also crucial for national security and defense applications, clean energy, and reindustrialization efforts. By 2030, the U.S. could need 1 million metric tons of copper for the expansion of data centers, researchers found.

The duties come nearly two months after the Trump administration announced 50% tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports. The copper 232 tariffs won’t stack on top of the auto 232 tariffs, the White House said.

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