SPDR Gold Shares was rallying a sharp 1.6%

U.S. copper futures rallied nearly 5% on Wednesday, rising more than other global benchmarks, after President Trump said imports of the metal would be subject to a 25% tariff; the front-month May Comex contract (HG1:COM) currently +4.6% at $4.76/lb.

Trump’s comments in last night’s speech to Congress sparked a surge in Comex copper prices in Asian hours, as traders reacted to the possibility that copper tariffs could be larger than expected.

“A 25% tariff was clearly not what the market was expecting before those comments, and now traders are scrambling to price in the correct level, whatever that might end up being,” Saxo Bank’s Ole Hansen said. “Whatever the final tariff is, the disruption to global trade flows is very real.”

Source – Seeking Alpha

The U.S. will soon be flooded with massive amounts of copper shipments in a global rush to front-run President Trump’s probable tariffs, with 100K-150K metric tons of refined copper expected to arrive in U.S. ports in the coming weeks, which potentially would surpass the all-time record of 136,951 tons set in January 2022, Bloomberg reported Wednesday.

Goldman Sachs analysts said they expect all forms of copper shipped to the U.S. to be hit with tariffs by year-end, keeping Comex prices at a hefty premium over other benchmarks, and noted that tariffs could cause China to refine 10K-20K tons/month less copper within the first three months – in a global market that Goldman already expected to face a 180K-ton deficit this year.

Source – Seeking Alpha