This Morning in Metals: Trump Threatens China With Additional $200B in Tariffs

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This morning in metals news, President Donald Trump threatened China with an additional $200 billion in tariffs, copper fell to a one-year low and Glencore released a statement regarding the subpoena it received from the U.S. Department of Justice in its corruption probe.
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Tariff Saga Escalates

Trade tensions continue to rise as the U.S. and China trade tariff threats, which have evolved from mere threats to reality (as a batch of $34 billion in tariffs on Chinese goods went into effect Friday, July 6).
Now, Trump has threatened China with an additional $200 billion in tariffs, Reuters reported, as China has vowed to protect itself in response.
Per a release from U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, the announcement comes after China retaliated to the aforementioned $34 billion in tariffs with matching tariffs of their own “without any international legal basis or justification.”
According to the state-run Xinhua News Agency, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said the U.S.’s actions represent “trade bullying.”
“This is a war between unilateralism and multilateralism, between protectionism and free trade, and between power and rules,” spokesperson Hua Chunying said. “China will work with the international community to jointly safeguard the multilateral trading system and rules.”

Copper Slides

London copper dropped to a one-year low on the heels of the Trump administration’s $200 billion tariff threat, Reuters reported.
LME copper fell to to its lowest level since July 25, 2017, according to the report.

Glencore Issues Statement on DOJ Subpoena

As our Stuart Burns discussed on Monday, Glencore has found itself under the microscope of late, particularly the microscope of the U.S. Department of Justice.
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Glencore is being investigated for its dealings in Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Venezuela. In response to a subpoena, Glencore released a statement on its next steps.

“Glencore takes ethics and compliance seriously throughout the Group,” Chairman Tony Hayward. “The Company will cooperate with the DOJ, while continuing to focus on our business and seeking to maximise the value we create for our diverse stakeholders in a responsible and transparent manner.”

According to the release, Glencore has formed a committee to coordinate the firm’s response to the subpoena.

One Comment

  • Does this measure affect Chinese exports or Chinese products per se?
    If these products were exported to Europe and then to the United States, would the new tariffs disappear?

    Reply

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