Mexico to seek exemption from Trump’s 50% copper tariff

United States President Donald Trump’s projected 50% tariff connected copper imports would impact Mexican exports worthy astir US $1 cardinal per year.

However, President Claudia Sheinbaum connected Wednesday raised the anticipation that the tariff won’t use to Mexican exports of the metal.

14/ Live Copper Tariff Decision:

Trump asked astir copper tariffs during meeting.

Scott suggested 50% rate.

Trump approved immediately: “50%.” pic.twitter.com/WssCVWBDsJ

— Karl Mehta (@karlmehta) July 9, 2025

At a furniture gathering connected Tuesday, Trump enumerated the assorted products connected which his medication has imposed import tariffs.

“We did steel, arsenic you cognize 50%; we did aluminum 50%; lumber conscionable came retired and we did cars. And contiguous we’re doing copper. I judge the tariff connected copper we’re going to marque it 50%,” helium told reporters.

U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said successful a consequent interrogation that the tariff connected copper would apt instrumentality effect astatine the extremity of July oregon connected August 1. In February, Trump directed Lutnick to “initiate an probe nether conception 232 of the Trade Expansion Act to find the effects connected nationalist information of imports of copper successful each forms.”

Mexico was the third-largest exporter of copper and copper products to the United States successful 2024, down Chile and Canada. Those exports were worthy US $976 million, according to U.S. Department of Commerce data.

The United States spent $17.11 cardinal connected copper imports past year. Therefore, Mexico had a 5.7% stock of the United States’ marketplace for imports of the indispensable concern metal.

Chile, whose copper exports to the United States were worthy $6.11 cardinal past year, had a 35.7% share, portion Canada, whose copper exports to the U.S. were worthy $3.99 billion, had a 23.3% share.

Mexico’s copper exports to the United States successful the archetypal 5 months of the twelvemonth were worthy $419 million, a 12% yearly increase. Despite the increase, Mexico was lone the sixth-largest copper exporter to the U.S. betwixt January and May.

Mexico exports importantly much copper to China than to the United States. The worth of Mexican copper ores and concentrates exported to China successful 2024 was $3.72 billion, according to Mexico’s Economy Ministry.

Mexico sold US $3.72B successful copper ore to China successful 2024, making up 60% of Mexico’s full copper ore trade. (Gobierno de México)

Sonora is easy Mexico’s apical copper-producing state, accounting for astir 80% of full output. The metallic is “critical to electrical vehicles, subject hardware, the powerfulness grid and galore user goods,” Reuters reported.

Sheinbaum: ‘We’re ever going to question the champion conditions for Mexico’

At her Wednesday greeting property conference, Sheinbaum highlighted that Mexico exports much copper to China than the United States.

“We export much [copper] to China than the United States, but we bash export to the United States. A batch of it is scrap copper that is refined successful the United States,” she said.

Sheinbaum stressed that the United States needs copper from Mexico.

“That is the large contented erstwhile they enforce these tariffs for the extortion of the United States system and for further production. In reality, a bully portion of exports is due to the fact that United States manufacture and companies request [foreign copper],” she said.

After saying “we’re going to wait” to spot what happens with the United States’ projected copper tariff, Sheinbaum noted that a delegation of Mexican officials led by Economy Minister Marcelo Ebrard volition conscionable with U.S. officials successful Washington connected Friday to enactment connected the bilateral “global agreement” she projected to Trump past month.

She said connected June 18 that the U.S. president had agreed to her connection to found a “global agreement” betwixt Mexico and the United States covering security, migration and trade.

On Wednesday, Sheinbaum said that the archetypal “conversations” betwixt Mexico and the United States to that extremity would instrumentality spot connected Friday.

“Of course, we’re ever going to question the champion conditions for Mexico,” she said.

On behalf of the Mexican government, Economy Minister Marcelo Ebrard has spent astir of 2025 seeking to triumph exemptions from the Trump administration’s recently imposed tariffs. (Daniel Augusto/Cuartoscuro)

In caller months, Ebrard has traveled regularly to Washington to prosecute successful commercialized discussions with Trump medication officials, including Lutnick. On behalf of the Mexican government, helium is seeking to triumph an exemption from, oregon astatine slightest a simplification of, the tariffs the United States has imposed connected imports of steel, aluminum and cars from Mexico, adjacent though the 2 countries person a escaped commercialized agreement, the USMCA, which besides includes Canada.

On Tuesday, Ebrard said helium would question much details astir the United States’ projected copper tariff.

“I volition person a telephone with United States authorities contiguous and past I’ll beryllium capable to springiness you a much precise presumption due to the fact that adjacent they didn’t cognize [the details],” helium told reporters.

“We request to cognize what it applies to. We’re going to recognize that first,” Ebrard said.

While it exports copper to countries including China and the United States, Mexico imports copper from Chile and Peru for usage successful a scope of manufactured products. The paper El Financiero reported that Chilean and Peruvian copper successful goods manufactured successful Mexico “could beryllium subject” to the U.S. tariffs the Trump medication intends to impose.

That would “affect the competitiveness of our astir blase exports and marque the full concern worth concatenation much expensive,” José de Jesús Rodríguez, a taxation analyst, told El Financiero.

With reports from El Economista, El Financiero and Reuters