Trump plans to impose 50% tariffs on copper imports from Aug. 1
The move is expected to affect American manufacturers across various sectors, such as automotive industry to home appliances.
While he first mentioned the tariffs during remarks to reporters on July 8, Trump confirmed the start date in a post on his platform, Truth Social, blaming previous administrations for the decline in America's influence in the copper industry.
He wrote in a post on July 9 that he is imposing the 50% tariff following a strong national security assessment.
He added that copper is essential for semiconductors, aircraft, ships, data centers, lithium-ion batteries, radar systems, missile defense, and even hypersonic weapons—many of which the US produce in large quantities.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Arab News
16 minutes ago
- Arab News
A look at the countries that received Trump's tariff letters
WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump has sent letters this week outlining higher tariffs countries will face if they don't make trade deals with the US by Aug. 1. Some mirror the so-called 'reciprocal' rates Trump unveiled against dozens of trading partners in April — the bulk of which were later postponed just hours after taking effect. But many are higher or lower than those previously announced amounts. So far, Trump has warned the European Union and 24 nations, including major trading partners like South Korea and Japan, that steeper tariffs will be imposed starting Aug. 1. Nearly all of these letters took the same general tone with the exception of Brazil, Canada, the EU and Mexico, which included more specifics about Trump's issues with those countries. Nearly every country has faced a minimum 10 percent levy on goods entering the US since April, on top of other levies on specific products like steel and automobiles. And future escalation is still possible. In his letters, which were posted on Truth Social, Trump warned countries that they would face even higher tariffs if they retaliated by increasing their own import taxes. Here's a look at the countries that have gotten tariff letters so far — and where things stand now: Brazil Tariff rate: 50 percent starting Aug. 1. Brazil wasn't threatened with an elevated 'reciprocal' rate in April — but, like other countries, has faced Trump's 10 percent baseline over the last three months. Key exports to the US: Petroleum, iron products, coffee and fruit juice. Response: In a forceful response, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said Trump's tariffs would trigger the country's economic reciprocity law — which allows trade, investment and intellectual property agreements to be suspended against countries that harm Brazil's competitiveness. He also noted that the US has had a trade surplus of more than $410 billion with Brazil over the past 15 years. Myanmar Tariff rate: 40 percent starting Aug. 1. That's down from 44 percent announced in April. Key exports to the US: Clothing, leather goods and seafood Response: Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun, the spokesperson for Myanmar's military government said it will follow up with negotiations. Laos Tariff rate: 40 percent starting Aug. 1. That's down from 48 percent announced in April. Key exports to the US: Shoes with textile uppers, wood furniture, electronic components and optical fiber Cambodia Tariff rate: 36 percent starting Aug. 1. That's down from 49 percent announced in April. Key exports to the US: Textiles, clothing, shoes and bicycles Response: Cambodia's chief negotiator, Sun Chanthol, said the country successfully got the tariff dropped from the 49 percent Trump announced in April to 36 percent and is ready to hold a new round of negotiations. He appealed to investors, especially factory owners, and the country's nearly 1 million garment workers not to panic about the tariff rate announced Monday. Thailand Tariff rate: 36 percent starting Aug. 1. That's the same rate that was announced in April. Key exports to the US: Computer parts, rubber products and gemstones Response: Thailand's Deputy Prime Minister Pichai Chunhavajira said Thailand will continue to push for tariff negotiations with the United States. Thailand on Sunday submitted a new proposal that includes opening the Thai market for more American agricultural and industrial products and increasing imports of energy and aircraft. Bangladesh Tariff rate: 35 percent starting Aug. 1. That's down from 37 percent announced in April. Key export to the US: Clothing Response: Bangladesh's finance adviser Salehuddin Ahmed said Bangladesh hopes to negotiate for a better outcome. There are concerns that additional tariffs would make Bangladesh's garment exports less competitive with countries like Vietnam and India. Canada Tariff rate: 35 percent starting Aug. 1. That's up from 25 percent imposed earlier this year on goods that don't comply with a North American trade agreement covering the US, Canada and Mexico. Some of Canada's top exports to the US are subject to different industry-specific tariffs. Key exports to the US: Oil and petroleum products, cars and trucks Response: Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney posted on X early Friday that the government will continue to work toward a trade deal by the new Aug. 1 deadline. Serbia Tariff rate: 35 percent starting Aug. 1. That's down from 37 percent announced in April. Key exports to the US: Software and IT services; car tires Indonesia Tariff rate: 32 percent starting Aug. 1. That's the same rate that was announced in April. Key exports to the US: Palm oil, cocoa butter and semiconductors Algeria Tariff rate: 30 percent starting Aug. 1. That's the same rate that was announced in April. Key exports to the US: Petroleum, cement and iron products Bosnia and Herzegovina Tariff rate: 30 percent starting Aug. 1. That's down from 35 percent announced in April. Key exports to the US: Weapons and ammunition The European Union Tariff rate: 30 percent starting Aug. 1. That's up from 20 percent announced in April but less than the 50 percent Trump later threatened. Key exports to the US: Pharmaceuticals, cars, aircraft, chemicals, medical instruments, and wine and spirits. Iraq Tariff rate: 30 percent starting Aug. 1. That's down from 39 percent announced in April. Key exports to the US: Crude oil and petroleum products Response: European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the tariffs would disrupt essential supply chains 'to the detriment of businesses, consumers and patients on both sides of the Atlantic.' She said the EU remains ready to continue working toward an agreement but will take necessary steps to safeguard EU interests, including countermeasures if required. Libya Tariff rate: 30 percent starting Aug. 1. That's down from 31 percent announced in April. Key exports to the US: Petroleum products Mexico Tariff rate: 30 percent starting Aug. 1. That's up from 25 percent imposed earlier this year on goods that don't comply with the free trade agreement covering the US, Mexico and Canada. Some of Mexico's top exports to the US are subject to other sector-specific tariffs. Key exports to the US: Cars, motor vehicle parts and accessories, crude oil, delivery trucks, computers, agricultural products South Africa Tariff rate: 30 percent starting Aug. 1. That's the same rate that was announced in April. Key exports to the US: Platinum, diamonds, vehicles and auto parts Response: The office of South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said in a statement that the tariff rates announced by Trump mischaracterized the trade relationship with the US, but it would 'continue with its diplomatic efforts toward a more balanced and mutually beneficial trade relationship with the United States' after having proposed a trade framework on May 20. Sri Lanka Tariff rate: 30 percent starting Aug. 1. That's down from 44 percent announced in April. Key exports to the US: Clothing and rubber products Brunei Tariff rate: 25 percent starting Aug. 1. That's up from 24 percent announced in April. Key exports to the US: Mineral fuels and machinery equipment Moldova Tariff rate: 25 percent starting Aug. 1. That's down from 31 percent announced in April. Key exports to the US: Fruit juice, wine, clothing and plastic products Japan Tariff rate: 25 percent starting Aug. 1. That's up from 24 percent announced in April. Key exports to the US: Autos, auto parts, electronic Response: Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba called the tariff 'extremely regrettable' but said he was determined to continue negotiating. Kazakhstan Tariff rate: 25 percent starting Aug. 1. That's down from 27 percent announced in April. Key exports to the US: Oil, uranium, ferroalloys and silver Malaysia Tariff rate: 25 percent starting Aug. 1. That's up from 24 percent announced in April. Key exports to the US: Electronics and electrical products Response: Malaysia's government said it will pursue talks with the US A cabinet meeting is scheduled for Wednesday. South Korea Tariff rate: 25 percent starting Aug. 1. That's the same rate that was announced in April. Key exports to the US: Vehicles, machinery and electronics Response: South Korea's Trade Ministry said early Tuesday that it will accelerate negotiations with the United States to achieve a deal before the 25 percent tax goes into effect. Tunisia Tariff rate: 25 percent starting Aug. 1. That's down from 28 percent announced in April. Key exports to the US: Animal and vegetable fats, clothing, fruit and nuts Philippines Tariff rate: 20 percent starting Aug. 1. That's down from 17 percent announced in April. Key exports to the US: Electronics and machinery, clothing and gold
Arab News
2 hours ago
- Arab News
Lawmakers visit ‘Alligator Alcatraz' after being blocked
OCHOPEE, Florida: Democratic lawmakers condemned Florida's new Everglades immigration detention center after a state-arranged visit Saturday, describing a crowded, unsanitary and bug-infested facility that officials have dubbed ' Alligator Alcatraz.' A Republican on the same tour said he saw nothing of the sort. The tour came after some Democrats were blocked earlier from viewing the 3,000-bed detention center that the state rapidly built on an isolated airstrip surrounded by swampland. So many state legislators and members of Congress turned up Saturday that they were split into multiple groups to view the facility. 'There are really disturbing, vile conditions and this place needs to be shut the hell down,' Rep. US Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, a Democrat from Florida, told reporters after visiting. 'This place is a stunt, and they're abusing human beings here.' Cage-style units of 32 men share three combination toilet-sink devices, the visitors measured the temperature at 83 degrees in one area that was billed as air-conditioned and grasshoppers and other insects abound, she and other Democrats said. Although the visitors said they weren't able to speak with the detainees, Rep. Maxwell Alejandro Frost, a Democrat from Florida, said one called out 'I'm an American!' and others chanting, 'Libertad!,' a Spanish word for 'freedom.' State Sen. Blaise Ingoglia, a Republican from Florida, countered that he had seen a well-run, safe facility where the living quarters were clean and the air conditioning worked well. He recalled that a handful of detainees became 'a little raucous' when the visitors appeared but said he didn't make out what they were saying. 'The rhetoric coming out of the Democrats does not match the reality,' he said by phone. 'It's a detention center, not the Four Seasons.' Journalists weren't allowed on the tour, and lawmakers were instructed not to bring phones or cameras inside. Messages seeking comment were sent to the state Division of Emergency Management, which built the facility, and to representatives for Gov. Ron DeSantis. DeSantis spokesperson Molly Best highlighted one of Ingoglia's upbeat readouts on social media. DeSantis and fellow Republicans have touted the makeshift detention center — an agglomeration of tents, trailers and temporary buildings constructed in a matter of days — as an efficient and get-tough response to President Donald Trump's call for mass deportations. The first detainees arrived July 3, after Trump toured and praised the facility. Described as temporary, the detention center is meant to help the Republican president's administration reach its goal of boosting the United States' migrant detention capacity from 41,000 people to at least 100,000. The Florida facility's remote location and its name — a nod to the notorious Alcatraz prison that once housed federal inmates in California — are meant to underscore a message of deterring illegal immigration. Ahead of the facility's opening, state officials said detainees would have access to medical care, consistent air conditioning, a recreation yard, attorneys and clergy members. But detainees and their relatives and advocates have told The Associated Press that conditions are awful, with worm-infested food, toilets overflowing onto floors, mosquitoes buzzing around the fenced bunks, and air conditioners that sometimes shut off in the oppressive South Florida summer heat. One man told his wife that detainees go days without getting showers. Florida Division of Emergency Management spokesperson Stephanie Hartman called those descriptions 'completely false,' saying detainees always get three meals a day, unlimited drinking water, showers and other necessities. 'The facility meets all required standards and is in good working order,' she said. Five Democratic state lawmakers tried to visit the site when it opened July 3 but said they were denied access. The state subsequently arranged Saturday's tour. The lawmakers have sued over the denial, saying that DeSantis' administration is impeding lawmakers' oversight authority. A DeSantis spokesperson has called the lawsuit 'dumb.' As Democratic officials headed into the facility, they said they expected to be given a sanitized and limited view. Wasserman Schultz told reporters the lawmakers came anyway because they wanted to ask questions and get a sense of the structure and conditions.
Arab News
2 hours ago
- Arab News
US ends case against doctor over alleged Covid vaccine scheme
WASHINGTON: US Attorney General Pam Bondi said Saturday she had ordered charges to be dropped against a doctor accused of destroying Covid-19 jabs and issuing fake vaccination certificates. The abrupt halt to proceedings comes just days after the trial commenced, and is the latest boost to the vaccine-skeptic movement from President Donald Trump's administration. Michael Kirk Moore, a plastic surgeon in the western state of Utah, was charged by the Department of Justice in 2023 alongside his clinic and three others for 'running a scheme' to defraud the government. He was accused of destroying or disposing of over $28,000 worth of government-provided Covid vaccines and handing out at least 1,937 false vaccine record cards in exchange for payment. Moore, who faced decades behind bars, was also accused of administering a saline solution to children — at the behest of their parents — so that they would think they had been vaccinated against Covid. Moore's trial began this week at a federal court in Salt Lake City. But on Tuesday, Republican lawmaker Marjorie Taylor Greene, one of Trump's most vocal hard-right supporters, said she had written to Bondi calling for charges against Moore to be dropped. 'Dr. Moore gave his patients a choice when the federal government refused to do so. He did not deserve the years in prison he was facing. It ends today,' Bondi wrote on X. Bondi's decision also notably comes as she faces fire from right-wing activists over her handling of a probe into the late financier Jeffrey Epstein. She thanked Greene and Utah Senator Mike Lee, another hard-right lawmaker, for their advocacy for dropping charges against Moore. The Covid-19 pandemic sparked fierce political division in the US between those who supported lockdowns and vaccination drives, and those who considered the measures as restrictions on freedom. Trump, himself vaccinated against Covid-19, has appointed as his Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has initiated an overhaul of American vaccine policy. Kennedy said Moore 'deserves a medal for his courage and commitment to healing,' in an X post in April. At the end of May, Kennedy announced that federal authorities would no longer recommend Covid-19 jabs for children and pregnant women, prompting accusations from medical groups that he was taking away parents' ability to opt for vaccinations. Kennedy has been accused of spreading vaccine misinformation, including about the measles vaccine, even as the US grapples with its worst measles epidemic in 30 years.
