Trump's Copper Tariff Threats Raise Alarms in Chile

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Written by Amir Richani for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--The Chilean government recently met to consider the possible impacts of U.S. President Donald Trump's announced imposition of 50% copper tariffs.

Chile is the world's largest copper producer. Last year, it sent 11.1% of its copper exports to the U.S., its second-biggest client, amounting to US$5.63 billion. The vast majority of those shipments were for refined copper cathodes.

China is the largest importer of Chilean copper and the world's biggest consumer of the mineral.

Given the impact of possible U.S. tariffs on copper, Chile announced a couple of months ago it would study the potential impact of the trade war on the Chilean economy and copper market.

"There has been no official notification, and consequently, we don't know the exact scope of these decisions, which have been communicated in very general terms," said Alberto van Klaveren, the Chilean Minister of Foreign Affairs. "We are waiting to learn about their scope to see how they might impact Chile's copper exports to the United States."

No action from the Chilean government is expected before an official notification.

The Chilean Copper Commission (Cochilco) projects an increase in global copper demand of 3%, surpassing production increases and generating deficits in the market for this and next year.

Chile has been recording higher year-over-year production volumes so far in 2025, reaching 2.3 million tons in the first five months, which is about 4.5% more when compared with the same period in 2024.

In May, Chile registered a yearly output increase of 8% with 483,000 tons.

The boost is driven by Codelco's mines, which have increased by 8.2% year-over-year, as well as by the Escondida mine (20.6% higher) and Mantos copper (87.7% higher).

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