Gold on week high, Silver up 1%

London Metal Exchange (LME) three-month copper slumped to a 17-month low of $8,105 per metric ton on April 7 after China responded to U.S. tariffs in kind.

Citi, which now expects copper to hit $8,000 per ton over the next three months, warns that commodity markets are still not pricing the full potential impact on demand.

Copper as a macro play cannot but reflect the broader market concerns about the negative impact of an escalating trade war between the United States and China on the world economy.

But at a micro level, the specific threat of U.S. tariffs on the metal is pulling normal trade patterns out of shape and causing both LME and Shanghai exchange inventories to fall.

Source – Reuters

The red metal, along with pharmaceuticals, semiconductors and lumber, earns an exemption from “reciprocal” tariffs on most goods entering the U.S.

Referred to in a White House fact sheet as “responsive tariffs,” President Trump spells out the rationale for and specific examples of other nations’ tariffs in that April 2 fact sheet, fully titled “Fact Sheet: President Donald J. Trump Declares National Emergency to Increase our Competitive Edge, Protect our Sovereignty, and Strengthen our National and Economic Security.”

“Some goods will not be subject to the Reciprocal Tariff”

“Copper, pharmaceuticals, semiconductors and lumber articles”

Source – Recycling Today