Copper futures rose to above $4.9 per pound on Friday, a nine-month high, and more than $0.4 higher than comparable contracts at the LME on expectations that the US will impose tariffs on copper, a move that would pressure the limited capacity for local smelters. President Trump signed an executive order to initiate a review on copper imports after noting he would tariff the metal in an earlier speech before Congress. The signals suggested that levies would be imposed later in the year, but the escalation on base metal tariffs on Canada sporadically announced by the White House ramped up concerns that barriers on copper may be expedited. Such a move would increase dependency on domestic capacity, which is limited to only two major smelters, as the US imports nearly half of its copper. In China, supply remained ample. Treatment charges by smelters were still below zero, reflecting the large extent of overcapacity in refined copper production in the major producer.
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