(The Lion) — The Trump administration this week announced a long-threatened increase in copper tariffs, even as one of the tariff’s main targets unwittingly made a case for the increased taxes on the metal.

While seemingly about trade, the tariff increase highlights how trade holds the balance on an intricate scale measuring geopolitical gamesmanship and regional security.

“Today, we’re doing copper,” Trump told reporters Tuesday during a Cabinet meeting at the White House, according to CNBC. “I believe the tariff on copper, we’re going to make it 50%.”

Previously, Trump had telegraphed the move by issuing an order under the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 that declared copper a critical material for national defense.

“Copper, scrap copper, and copper’s derivative products play a vital role in defense applications, infrastructure, and emerging technologies, including clean energy, electric vehicles, and advanced electronics,” said the Trump order issued in February 2025. “The United States faces significant vulnerabilities in the copper supply chain, with increasing reliance on foreign sources for mined, smelted, and refined copper.”

Concerned about foreign control

Trump noted, while not mentioning a specific country, a single foreign producer controls more than 50% of the capacity for copper mining and refining output worldwide.

Reuters claimed the country Trump was referring to is likely Chile. The wire service report said that Chile’s leaders were “blindsided” by the tariff announcement.

But they also seem to be tone-deaf too.

The head of Chile’s largest mining association attacked the tariff increase, saying it could lead to market instability, but seemingly was unaware he was also making a strong case for Trump’s tariff approach.

“The U.S. lacks the capacity for self-sufficiency and relies heavily on copper smelting and refining in China,” Jorge Riesco, the president of Chile’s National Mining Association, Sonami, said in a statement, according to Reuters.

Fears about China

The comment about U.S. reliance on China for copper refining likely looms large in Trump’s reasoning for a steep increase in copper tariffs.

In addition to worries about dumping foreign products in the U.S. to keep prices depressed, the February order from Trump also noted the potential for foreign countries to leverage supply against the U.S. to undermine national security.

Trump ordered the secretary of commerce to assess “the potential for export restrictions by foreign nations, including the ability of foreign nations to weaponize their control over refined copper supplies.”

It’s likely not coincidental Trump also recently suggested a huge increase in tariffs on pharmaceuticals.

Pharmaceutical tariffs

Trump mentioned a potential 200% increase in tariffs on foreign pharmaceuticals during the same Cabinet meeting where copper tariffs were discussed.

During an earlier trade row with the U.S., China gave Trump a wake-up call by threatening to weaponize America’s reliance on the communist state for cheap generic pharmaceuticals, such as antibiotics.

During the COVID-19 crisis, several state-run Chinese media outlets suggested that China could suspend sales of pharmaceuticals to the U.S. to influence American policy, claiming that the U.S. imported about 90% of its antibiotics from China, according to the Washington Examiner.

The threat, however, backfired. It simply served to highlight that Trump trade deals weren’t just about buying cheap knockoff products from a developing nation that’s evolving into a rival.

Instead, it showed how dependent the U.S. was on China for critical components inside America’s supply chain.

The supply chain dynamic, more than anything, is probably what’s driving the copper tariff push.

Trump’s changing strategy

In Trump’s first term as president, he was seen more often as a transactional president who just wanted to get good trade deals done for the country.

But Trump’s approach to China has evolved from his first term to his second. In his second term, the president is surrounded by prominent anti-China hawks, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, among others.

Chinese threats or actions on trade restrictions – particularly in areas like technology, pharmaceuticals, critical minerals and materials such as copper – have shaped a tougher U.S. president.

Chilean President Gabriel Boric said he has received no official notice from Washington about the tariff increase.

“We are waiting for the official communication from the United States government regarding what the policy will be – whether or not it includes copper cathodes, what the limits are, and whether this will actually be implemented or not,” Boric told reporters, according to a mining industry website.

The tariff increase may also serve as a wake-up call for Chile’s leaders, who have been trying to walk a precarious tightrope between the U.S. and China, amid heightened scrutiny of the Andean country, which may be becoming too dependent on communist China for U.S. comfort.