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Lutnick: Copper Tariffs Begin Late July or Aug. 1

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told CNBC July 8 that the Section 232 investigation and report on copper undertaken by his department is finished, and has been sent to the president, and that the proclamation will be issued within a day or two. He said a 50% tariff on copper-- the same as for aluminum and steel -- is "likely to be put into place the end of July, maybe August 1."

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According to an analysis posted online by Michigan State University Professor Jason Miller, about $17 billion worth of copper and copper derivatives was imported in 2024, and the top four exporting countries are free-trade agreement signatories -- Chile, Canada, Mexico and Peru.

"The idea is to bring copper home, bring copper production home, bring the ability to make copper, which is key to the industrial sector, back home to America," Lutnick said. "We need that kind of production in America."

Lutnick said the investigations are not yet done on imported pharmaceuticals' and semiconductors' impact on national security, but the studies will be done at the end of July.

"And so the president will then set his policies then," Lutnick said July 8, though, as he mentioned, Trump had said that same day that he would be imposing a 200% tariff on imported medicines in a year or 18 months, to give companies time to establish domestic factories.

"Give you time to build, say a year, year-and-a-half, possibly even two years of building, and then the tariff will be much higher," Lutnick said.

Lutnick said 15 to 20 countries' letters would be sent by the end of the day on July 9 -- so far there have been 21 -- and Lutnick characterized the letters as "really setting down tariff lines for the key, driving countries."

While South Korea and Japan are key exporters to the U.S., some of the countries that received letters have minimal exports to the U.S., such as Brunei ($249 million) and Moldova ($142 million), and only five of the 21 are in the top 20 exporters.

"And then we will set out a general letter to the balance, sort of setting out where they’re going to be. The president is setting these tariff lines," Lutnick said. "This is his agenda. He knows how he wants to play it."