Trump says he will impose 50% tariff on copper imports

President Donald Trump said helium volition enforce a 50% tariff connected copper imports connected Tuesday, and suggested much steep sector-specific duties are connected the way.

"Today, we're doing copper," Trump said during a Cabinet gathering astatine the White House. "I judge the tariff connected copper, we're going to marque it 50%." He did not accidental specifically erstwhile that tariff would instrumentality effect.

Trump besides said helium would soon denote tariffs "at a very, precise precocious rate, similar 200%," connected pharmaceutical imports.

Pharmaceutical companies could person up to a twelvemonth and a fractional to commencement producing their products successful the U.S. earlier those caller tariffs instrumentality effect, Trump added.

Copper prices jumped to a grounds precocious aft Trump's abrupt announcement and ended the trading time up 13.12% for the champion one-day summation since 1989.

Shares of copper miner Freeport-McMoRan, meanwhile, roseate 5% arsenic investors expect home producers to payment from the tariff.

Copper is the third-most-consumed metal, down robust and aluminum. The U.S. imports astir fractional of the copper it uses, astir of which comes from Chile, according to information from the U.S. Geological Survey.

Trump successful precocious February ordered a probe into imaginable caller tariffs connected copper imports connected nationalist information grounds.

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said connected CNBC's "Power Lunch" aboriginal Tuesday that that probe was finished.

"The thought is to bring copper home, bring copper accumulation home," Lutnick said. He noted that Trump's determination volition bring copper tariffs successful enactment with U.S. duties connected imports of steel and aluminum, which Trump doubled to 50% successful aboriginal June.

Lutnick said helium expected Trump to soon motion a proclamation that would enactment the copper tariff successful spot by the extremity of July.

The caller commercialized announcements connected copper and pharmaceuticals are abstracted from the "reciprocal" tariffs that Trump unveiled successful aboriginal April, erstwhile helium imposed a baseline 10% work connected imports from astir each different countries, arsenic good arsenic overmuch higher rates connected dozens of idiosyncratic nations.

Trump has repeatedly delayed the higher reciprocal tariffs from taking effect. But connected Monday, helium sent retired a spate of letters dictating caller tariff rates connected imports from 14 countries, including Japan, South Korea and Thailand.

Those individualized broad tariff rates, which ranged from 25% to 40%, are acceptable to instrumentality effect Aug. 1.

— CNBC's Spencer Kimball contributed to this report.