Proclamation Signed... Anode and Cathode Materials Excluded
On July 30 (local time), U.S. President Donald Trump signed a proclamation imposing a 50% tariff on imported copper products based on Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act.
According to materials released by the White House on the same day, the proclamation stipulates that tariffs will be imposed on semi-finished and derivative products made of copper starting August 1.
The tariffs will apply not only to semi-finished products such as pipes, wires, rods, sheets, and tubes made of copper, but also to derivative products that use large amounts of copper, including pipe fittings, cables, connectors, and electrical components. The tariff rate will be determined based on the copper content of each product.
Non-copper components will be subject to reciprocal tariffs or separate tariffs depending on the country.
On the other hand, raw copper materials and scrap copper will not be subject to the 50% tariff. These items will also be excluded from reciprocal tariffs by country. The raw copper materials specified by the White House include copper ore, concentrates, matte, anode materials, and cathode materials.
As a result, anode and cathode materials exported by the South Korean battery industry to the United States are expected to be exempt from the new copper tariffs.
Through this proclamation, President Trump also instructed the Secretary of Commerce to implement policies to foster the U.S. copper industry. In particular, he mandated that 25% of high-quality scrap copper produced in the United States must be sold domestically, and that the domestic sales ratio of U.S.-produced raw copper materials be increased to 25% by 2027 and to 40% by 2029.
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