US President Donald Trump announces probe into Copper

US President Donald Trump signed another Executive Order late Tuesday, signaling for the US Commerce Department to launch an official "probe" into Copper markets. President Trump, citing "national security concerns", is ordering for an investigation into pricing of Copper in futures and delivery markets. US law provides an ambiguous backdoor for presidents to issue Executive Orders that allow the White House to circumvent normal Congressional avenues of kicking off trade wars, and has been the cornerstone of the Trump adminsitration's hundreds of Executive Orders since Trump took office in January.

President Trump took the opportunity to signal further possible tariff actions, reiterating his intent to designate other country's digital services taxes as a form of pseudo-tariff on US goods. President Trump also repeated his insistence that the US does not "need" Canadian Crude Oil or lumber products, a statement that runs against a hard wall of decades of trade history.

Key highlights

US Commerce to probe copper derivative imports and exact list unclear.

Trump launches commerce probe that could lead to copper tariffs.

Copper probe based on national security, not trade imbalance.

Copper order will have big impact.

Europe uses digital taxes to penalize US businesses.

We're going to protect our businesses.

The House and Senate know what I want.

We don't need Canadian oil or lumber.