Washington, July 31 -- U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday signed a proclamation to address the effects of copper imports, imposing universal 50 percent tariffs on imports of semi-finished copper products and copper-intensive derivative products, effective on Aug. 1.
The proclamation directs the U.S. secretary of commerce to establish a product "inclusion" process to add copper derivative products to these tariffs, and the president is authorizing the secretary of commerce to take steps under the Defence Production Act to support the domestic copper industry, the White House said in a fact sheet.
"By taking these actions, President Trump is leveling the playing field for U.S. copper businesses to support a strong domestic copper in...