Copper price climbs as Supreme Court strikes down Trump’s tariffs

Copper climbed in London, tracking gains in US stock markets after the Supreme Court struck down President Donald Trump’s sweeping reciprocal tariffs, which have weighed heavily on the outlook for global trade.

Prices climbed as much as 1.3% on the London Metal Exchange before paring gains, after the court said the administration had exceeded its authority when it imposed the tariffs on its trading partners. Those levies are separate to the sector-specific tariffs Trump put in place on aluminum, steel and copper products on national security grounds.

The ruling — which was widely anticipated by investors — strikes at the heart of Trump’s agenda, blunting an all-purpose tool he has wielded against trading partners. The White House has said it will quickly replace the levies using other legal tools, though the fallback options tend to be either more cumbersome or more limited than the powers Trump asserted under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.

Copper was 0.8% higher at $12,908 a metric ton as of 4:01 p.m. local time on the LME, as all of the six main metals contracts climbed on the exchange.

(By Yvonne Yue Li and Mark Burton)