President Donald Trump imposed 50% tariffs on copper imports, but exempted refined metals that are the mainstay of international trading, triggering a record plunge for U.S. prices. Martin Ritchie reports on Bloomberg Television.

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U.S. copper prices dropped sharply after President Trump imposed a 50 percent tariff on copper imports, while exempting refined copper. The announcement led to a 22 percent decline in U.S.-traded copper over two days, with most of the drop occurring in a single day. 

The market had anticipated a lower tariff and was uncertain about which products would be affected until the official proclamation was released. The exemption of refined copper, a key product traded on international exchanges, was unexpected and contributed to market volatility. Copper futures in New York fell more than 20 percent, aligning prices with those on the London Metal Exchange.

U.S. copper plunges after Trump's tariff surprise

President Trump also slapped 50 percent tariffs on copper imports but he exempted refined metals. You can see the huge plunge that had in U.S. traded copper down 22 percent in the two days about 20 percent just yesterday. Joining us now is Bloomberg's Martin Ritchie. Martin how did this all unfold. As you say this is another big surprise for the copper market after a year of big surprises and quite a lot of volatility. The copper tariffs have been signaled well in advance since at least February. But for a long time the kind of market expectation was for a 25 percent tariff. Then earlier this month Trump in off the cuff remarks said it was going to be 50 percent. But very few other details were given. And even right up until you know less than 24 hours ago we didn't know what products were going to be covered. We didn't know if they're going to be any exemptions at all for any countries or producers. So when the proclamation finally comes out and excludes what's called refined copper the stuff that's really traded in the international exchanges. This comes as a major surprise. It was well well short of expectations for what the tariffs would cover. Copper futures in New York went down by more than 20 percent. The prices went back into parity with the London Metal Exchange. A little bit of an earthquake in the in the copper market this morning after that announcement.

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U.S. copper plunges after Trump's tariff surprise

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