Metal Ore Mining

Jul 16, 2025 - Copper Prices Soar on New Tariff Threat

• President Trump in July announced new tariffs on copper imports, causing copper prices to soar to a new all-time high, The Wall Street Journal reports. Trump set an August 1 deadline for imposing a 50% tariff on copper, joining steel and aluminum (also subject to 50% levies). Copper shipments into the US are expected to accelerate in the coming weeks as companies scramble to get the metal into the country before the 50% tariff goes into effect, according to Reuters. With imports totaling 810,000 metric tons in 2024, the US is a net importer of refined copper, according to the US Geological Survey. Chile supplies 65% of US imports, followed by Canada (17%), and Mexico (9%). Refined copper accounted for 88% of all unmanufactured copper imports. Arizona is the leading copper-producing state, accounting for approximately 70% of US output.
• Cuts to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health by the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, threaten miners’ safety just as the Trump administration is seeking to expand mining in the US, NPR reports. “This is not just an attack on jobs,” said President of the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) Cecil E. Roberts, condemning the cuts. “This is an attack on the very foundation of worker safety in the United States of America.” Roberts said the dismantling of the Respiratory Disease Division at NIOSH eliminates the nation’s leading defense against black lung disease and other respiratory illnesses that afflict miners. In March, President Trump signed an executive order to fast track permitting and expand US mining, with cuts at NIOSH following soon after. More mining would mean more miners to protect. However, miners' protections are being stripped away, according to UMWA.

• President Trump has signed an executive order aimed at boosting the deep-sea mining in US and international waters, marking his latest attempt to boost US access to nickel, copper, and other critical minerals used widely across the economy, USA Today reports. The EO, signed in April, prioritizes US leadership in seabed mapping and mineral exploration, to ensure access to critical minerals like manganese, nickel, cobalt and rare earth elements, according to a White House Fact Sheet. It affirms the nation’s right to extract critical minerals from the ocean floor, enabling companies to bypass the International Seabed Authority and seek permits directly from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which will review applications and issue exploration licenses and commercial recovery permits to US entities for deep-sea mining in international waters. The EO builds on Trump’s previous attempts to tap international metal and mineral deposits in Greenland and Ukraine.
• Producer prices for metal ore mining firms fell 1.8% in May compared to a year ago after posting a flat previous May-versus-May comparison, according to the latest US Bureau of Labor Statistics data. Industry producer prices have eased from record highs in 2023. Still, producer prices for metal ore mining firms, which began rising sharply in 2021, are near historically high levels. Employment by metal ore mining firms shrank 1.1% year over year in May, while the average industry wage for mining firms (except oil and gas) rose 2.9% over the same period to $38.85, BLS data show.