By Ernest Scheyder, David Shepardson and Gabriel Araujo
(Reuters) -U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday issued a blitz of tariff announcements ranging from changes to previously threatened levies on imports of copper and on goods from Brazil to ending an exemption from tariffs for small-value shipments from overseas.
The wave of announcements came as the clock ticked down toward an August 1 deadline for higher tariff rates to kick in on goods imported from most of the world as Trump presses on with his bid to reshape global trade. The president also touted ongoing negotiations with key trading partners, including South Korea.
Capping a day that began with Trump announcing a 25% tariff rate on goods from India after months of negotiations between Washington and New Delhi failed to produce a trade deal, Trump said a 50% tariff on copper pipes and wiring would kick in on Friday.
Details of the levy, though, fell short of the sweeping restrictions expected and left out copper input materials such as ores, concentrates and cathodes.
The surprise move dragged down U.S. copper prices more than 17% on the Comex exchange and unwound a premium over the London global benchmark that had grown in recent weeks, with shipments diverted there in anticipation of higher domestic prices.
“Markets are now busily repricing refined copper much lower after Trump’s epic backflip on his own import tariff policy,” said Tom Price, an analyst at the London brokerage Panmure Liberum. “Someone must have finally got through to (Trump) that the U.S. economy simply can’t afford this new trade-hit.”
Trump first teased the copper tariff in early July, implying that it would apply to all types of the red metal, ranging from cathodes produced by mines and smelters to wiring and other finished products.
Yet the proclamation released by the White House said the tariff will apply only to pipes, tubes and other semi-finished copper products, as well as products that copper is heavily used to manufacture, including cable and electrical components.
The move aids manufacturers, but does little to boost the constrained U.S. copper mining industry, which for years has asked Washington for permitting reform or other steps that could fuel growth. The move is essentially a boost for Chile and Peru, two of the world’s largest copper miners and major suppliers to the United States.
The measure came after a U.S. investigation under Section 232 that Trump ordered in February, findings from which were delivered by Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick on June 30.
BRAZIL
Trump on Wednesday slapped a 50% tariff on most Brazilian goods to fight what he has called a “witch hunt” against former President Jair Bolsonaro, but softened the blow by excluding sectors such as aircraft, energy and orange juice from the heavier levies.
That came as a relief for many in Brasilia, who since Trump announced the tariffs had been urging protections for major exporters caught in the crossfire. Shares of planemaker Embraer and pulpmaker Suzano rose.
“We’re not facing the worst-case scenario,” Brazilian Treasury Secretary Rogerio Ceron told reporters. “It’s a more benign outcome than it could have been.”
The new tariffs will go into effect on August 6, not August 1 as Trump announced originally.
‘DE MINIMIS’
The White House also said the United States is suspending a “de minimis” exemption that allowed low-value commercial shipments to be shipped to the United States without facing tariffs.
Under Trump’s order, packages valued at or under $800 sent to the U.S. outside of the international postal network will now face “all applicable duties” starting on August 29, the White House said.
Trump earlier targeted packages from China and Hong Kong. The tax-and-spending bill recently signed by Trump repealed the legal basis for the de minimis exemption worldwide starting on July 1, 2027.
“Trump is acting more quickly to suspend the de minimis exemption than the OBBBA requires, to deal with national emergencies and save American lives and businesses now,” the White House said, referring to the bill known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
Goods shipped through the postal system will face one of two tariffs: either an “ad valorem duty” equal to the effective tariff rate of the package’s country of origin or, for six months, a specific tariff of $80 to $200 depending on the country of origin’s tariff rate.
SOUTH KOREA TALKS
Trump also said he will meet South Korea’s trade delegation as top officials from Seoul are in Washington to cut a last-minute deal on U.S. tariffs.
South Korean Finance Minister Koo Yun-cheol, Industry Minister Kim Jung-kwan and Minister for Trade Yeo Han-koo met U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer on Wednesday, according to the finance ministry.
The industry and trade ministers have been in Washington since last week to reach a deal before August 1, a deadline set by Trump for 25% tariffs to kick in against South Korea, a major U.S. ally and powerhouse exporter of chips, cars and steel.
Pressure has been mounting on South Korea since Japan clinched a deal to cut Trump’s threatened tariffs to 15% earlier this month.
(Reporting by Daina Beth Solomon in Santiago, Ernest Scheyder in Houston, Divya Rajagopal in Toronto, Pratima Desai and Polina Devitt in London, Gabriel Araujo and Ana Mano in Sao Paulo, Ismail Shakil in Ottawa, Kanishka Singh, Trevor Hunnicutt and David Shepardson in Washington; Writing by Dan Burns; Editing by Jamie Freed)
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