Trump announces 50% copper tariff, threatens to punish Brazil

Brazil and copper are the two new targets of Donald Trump 's tariff offensive, the first in the name of defending former President Jair Bolsonaro, who is on trial for an attempted coup, and the second to protect "national security." "I am announcing a 50% surcharge on copper, effective August 1, 2025, after receiving a thorough national security assessment," the US president said on his social media account Wednesday, likely in reference to a Commerce Department investigation. "Copper is the second most used material by the Department of Defense!" he raged, citing the country's needs for building semiconductors, aircraft, ships, munitions, data centers, and missile defense systems, among other things.

In the name of rebalancing trade relations in favor of the United States, Donald Trump imposed a minimum 10% surcharge on imports in April, even if they cannot be produced locally, but with exemptions, notably for gold, copper, oil, and medicines. He reversed these exceptions on Tuesday, for example, considering a 200% surcharge on pharmaceutical products and a 50% surcharge on copper—a threat that sent the price of the metal soaring nearly 10% in New York on Tuesday, surpassing its historic peak. If the tariffs on copper go into effect, the prices of goods made from this metal (refrigerators, cars, etc.) could rise, as they do for other products subject to import surcharges.

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On Wednesday, the US president also announced a 50% surcharge on Brazilian products, which had so far been spared because the United States has a trade surplus with the South American giant. In a letter to his counterpart Lula, Trump said the tariffs would be imposed in response to the prosecution of Jair Bolsonaro, who is on trial in his country for attempted coup d'état . "The way Brazil treated former President Bolsonaro (...) is an international disgrace," he wrote, calling the prosecution of the former Brazilian far-right leader "a witch hunt (that) must stop immediately."

"Any measure to increase customs duties unilaterally will be responded to in light of the Brazilian Law of Economic Reciprocity," Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva responded in a statement.

Since Monday, around twenty countries have received a letter announcing the surcharge that will apply starting August 1st on their products entering the United States. In detail, Algerian products should be taxed at 30% (unchanged compared to the initial announcement in early April), as will those from Libya (-1 percentage point), Iraq (-9pp) and Sri Lanka (-14pp), those from Moldova and Brunei will be taxed at 25% (-6pp and +1pp respectively). As for Philippine products, the surcharge will be 20% (+3pp). As of Monday, fourteen capitals, mainly in Asia, had received a letter, with a surcharge ranging from 25% (Japan, South Korea, Tunisia in particular) to 40% (Laos and Burma) and 36% (Cambodia and Thailand).

Donald Trump had stated on Tuesday that he planned to send further letters this week, notably to the European Union (EU). On Wednesday, a spokesperson for the European Commission assured that the EU expected to reach an agreement with the United States "in the coming days." The EU's goal is to avoid any surcharges (beyond the 10% floor), with exemptions for key sectors such as aeronautics, cosmetics, and alcoholic beverages. Initially, the new surcharges were to begin being collected on July 9, after a previous delay, but Mr. Trump signed an executive order earlier this week pushing back the date to August 1.

In his letters, Trump assures that any response will be met with an additional tariff of the same magnitude. The US president announced punitive tariffs of up to 50% on products from countries with a trade surplus with the United States in early April, before imposing a 90-day pause in the face of market panic to negotiate bilateral agreements. So far, only two have been announced, with the United Kingdom and Vietnam, while a compromise has been initialed with China.