Hassett on 50% copper tariffs: "If there is a time of war, we need to have the metals that we need to produce America weapons. So as we look forward to the threats that America faces, the president has decided that we have plenty of copper in the US, but not enough copper production"
Does he think you can just. Build a mine overnight
We're preparing for war but there is now war in ba sing se
Shit weasel
😡
Except copper is mostly mined in Canada and Chile - and the only thing copper tariffs will do is destroy manufacturing in the USA.
Wow
Well the President is wrong, again.
He’s actually not wrong, we do have a lot of Cu here, and the ability to grow and develop Cu resources in a responsible manner. However, doing this via tariffs is reckless and irresponsible and will jack costs for projects for years to come
I guess we'll see 😂😂😂😂 My bet is that he's gonna fail .
If its profitable, why didnt anyone bother to invest ?
People do invest, the challenge is permitting a mine in the US has gotten more and more difficult. Resolution is one of the largest highest grade Cu projects in the world, that was hung up in legal challenges for over a decade.
It’s not. And South American producers have a vast cost advantage. Also a reserve of copper doesn’t mean it’s high grade or easy to get at.
Confirms my assumption
S American assets have their unique challenges including grade. It’s not easy to explore or develop at high elevations in the Andes. The US has multiple highly favorable states for Cu exploration, and is one of the best jurisdictions to operate in by any metric.
We'll see about that 😂😂😂😂 Good luck
"best jurisdictions" raises a lot of questions so v happy this isnt my beef.
Tell me you don’t know who’s the largest copper producer are in the world? Chile and Peru are like 60% - 70%. There’s no universe where America becomes even remotely dominate. But if you want to participate in MAGA magical economic thinking go ahead.
I am sure cost increases, risk premium, interest hikes, environmental concerns will impact the business case, and if uncompetive you only cater to domestic market. But I have no issue in markets proving me wrong, just skeptical.
1) Cu is sold on the global market so it’s not even domestically produced. 2) there’s constant mineral exploration efforts in the US, ordinary people just never hear about it. 3) Much of the Cu I’m referring to is already found and proven, just not in production due to legal challenges
Skeptical too. And won’t happen fast, if at all. It’s a lot of risk capital. If tariffs come off in the future the cost advantage from other countries crowds out anything that can be produced in the US.
So nobody is going to risk his capital.
I’d say no - and not just cooper. Steel, aluminum, cars etc. Trump is way too transactional and short term and lacks any strategic foresight- that environment WILL NOT encourage that type of investment. If you want this short of policy you need lots of tax / tariff/ legal certainty.
I’ve worked in the industry for 20 years. I’m not MAGA, not arguing the US becomes Cu independent. I do know a little about exploring for Cu. There are also multiple large-to-massive Cu deposits in this country that would change the equation, but can’t get developed for various reasons, some valid.
But the important thing is Pettyman Smallcock is having fun. And isn't fun the best thing to have?
I know virtually nothing about mining anything. But I'm willing to bet it's more expensive to do in the US than say Chile. Ya know, because of pay, benefits, safety of workers & oh.... let's see, not poisoning our land and water supply.
Ha! The president has decided? He can’t even decide if he should reinforce FEMA staffing levels when we face hurricanes, flooding rains and wildfires! Get ready for your state taxes to take a hit. No help from govt to states, ever, that’s the idea they have of states rights. No funding whatsoever
Idiots, all idiots, especially this smirking dip shit.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pebble_...
mustreadalaska.com/epa-pebble-m...
So stupid.
Oh boy....as a distraction we will enter into a war...watch
Lock your doors, Canada!
HOW YOU GONNA GET THE COPPER WITHOUT INVESTING IN DOMESTIC MINING TO INCENTIVIZE IT
We have a 40 year supply (reserves) at current production rates, probably less in real terms. Double the production, we run out in 20 years. This is why you buy from people with larger reserves when you can afford it.
Bolsonaro loves Trump. What a #bromance 🥰
Hey here's an idea. Copper is near the top of the list of recyclables. But that just does not fit the outrage Trumplicans have about such logical things. There are more worried about shit that kills people. Not surprising. 🤷
So my plan is to totally depletion of our copper mineral deposit that is currently held in an earthen vault so that when a time comes when we our supplies have been cut, it will not exist.
Is the copper with him right now?
As he smirks….. so, what’s first? Canada or Greenland?
“Can’t make bronze without copper and tin. How will we form the shield wall!!!!????”
He gave away the battle plan. Now all Brazil has to do is halt all trade of copper with the U.S. and leave us hanging by an inadequate thread and vulnerable to attack and unable to defend ourselves. Cart before the horse diplomacy.
The Hittite king’s vizier says we must have Cyprus for the copper. Because if we don’t do it, the Sea Peoples will.
What war is he anticipating?
Yep Trump has done a deep dive on copper deposits in the US. But, now hear me out, why would you want to restrict copper imports to the US if they're that important? Wouldn't you want a "strategic copper reserve"? These people are morons.
Where’s a copper when you need one?
I think if China has plans to declare war on the States, they're just going to wait until the States destroy themselves. It's so much cheaper. There isn't enough copper on Earth to defend the near total dysfunction that is the USA.
God, the suck at everything they do.
A vital metal for both consumer and business products with no viable option for US production. No supplier or importer is going to absorb a 50% tax. This is all going to be borne by US consumers and businesses. Inflation is waiting in the wings like the angel of death beside Trump's bed.
This is great for plumbers like myself! Telling customers I have to raise prices thanks to Donnie should go over very well
Same for electricians, home builders, etc. But why not incentivize finding and creating copper mines? I assume that takes a while?
Nothing like that can happen in 5 minutes. I’m pro American industry but the investments have got to be made in building it up and then tariffs could be effective. This is just raising the price
Tarriffs are a pretty clumsy way of doing that. The main problem with mining is environmental; we have a lot of various metal resources but mining tends to devastate and poison the land, including local water supplies. So the approval process is pretty long.
Not with this administration -- they don't care about the environment. It'll be approved in 90 days or less and with the EPA gutted there'll be nothing they can do about it.
Why punish the users of copper to encourage copper production? Any other country would provide incentives to increase it
Excellent. Trump is an expert in copper production as well as dismantling a government.
This assumes that Trump is acting reasonably. There is no reason to believe this.
So, are they planning a war?
Nah, wars
They are planning whatever it will take to declare states of emergency so that elections can be suspended
Of course. China.
Planning? You may have this administration confused with adults.
With that war rhetoric I wouldn't sell the US *any* copper, lead etc
Who is paying for all the costs of building the manufacturing plants that would be needed to increase production?
And again the mantra of foreign countries paying tariffs not us consumers
If lack of smelting infrastructure is the main limit, you'd think he'd do something to encourage new smelters like tax breaks, guaranteed loans, or direct Fed funding. Could do private-public construction of smelter, or just public & have gov owned smelter built. Nope! Tariffs!
Ah, another smirking guy. "Imagine if you will a world in which we constantly go to war..." Well, actually, we don't mind dropping a billion dollars to drop some missiles and warplanes trying to beat up some guys in the desert in Yemen. Or half a billion to fly two dozen planes to Iran. But what if?
This moron is in the running to be the next Fed Chair?
One of the interesting factoids in this article is that Susie Wiles used to be a lobbyist for Pebble Mine.
I call bs in having enough mineable copper. When do we start manufacturing our own coffee and bananas too?
and natural rubber! It’s all so tiring.
"If they move all their copper ore deposits to the US, bury them, then mine them, there won't be any tariffs." - the fucking dumbest president ever
When’s he declaring CIVIL WAR, Mr H-asshole?? Coz we all thought he was the “Peace President”…. Is he having PROBLEMS with certain countries??
Search for AZ copper mines and you will find the state is loaded with them. They are hard to see from the roadside? Why? Because they are massive eyesores! The Morenci Mine is one of the largest. If you haven’t visited one please do. It’s mind blowing.
This is how they will justify destroying our national parks.
So much about life can be magnificent, particularly in the natural world that remains. The shitty stuff, often humanity induced, can almost wreck the glow of being alive. For happiness, favor the fineness, seek it, nurse it, & turn off the shit, or it can get very dark.
🎯
Sadly…. 😞
So somehow tariffs is the answer???
Lol, okay...fucking asshole
And to think, a mere 45% of US copper consumption is imported. Should only take 2 wks to remedy that, right?
Be right back, trying to find 2 billion dollars to build a copper refinery. Oh, what’s that? He changed his mind again?
All while copper prices lower as US market closed. Excellent investment, banks must be delighted !
I'm pretty certain the rest of the world are side-stepping anything Trump does and ensuring they can conduct business with alternative partners and where there are mutually beneficial trade deals.
So are we starting war soon? We have been at peace(sort of )since ww 2
Odd, but he does not think the same about oil. Idiot!
Public Lands & national parks
"As we look forward to the threats that America faces..." say whuut?
Does THE FELON who’s been given everything on a GOLD PLATTER realize companies can’t just ORDER COPPER MANUFACTURERS PLANTS ONLINE? It takes YEARS to plan & build a copper manufacturing plant here! Which is much longer than AMERICANS will have to suffer from that PRIVILEGED RICH FELONS STUPIDITY!
Ammo is going to cost more, way to go MAGA.
Cheaper to stockpile
As a part of the mining industry, I do welcome the focus on increasing our ability to mine and develop Cu here. However, you don’t just wave a wand and ramp up Cu production, it takes years to grow and develop a resource. So increasing the cost of Cu now will have massive impacts on costs now
And seriously piss off your Australian allies who supply you with some of said copper now being affected by 50% tariffs. He really knows how to treat his friends.
We still have allies??
It will also increase costs for (checks notes) for US manufacturers, energy producers and construction. 👏 Trump economic team.
For now. If Hegseth keeps asking what we’re going to do with the subs we’re paying for but he may not give us, we won’t be for long.
Oif.
🤦
Follow up: "But the President campaigned on stopping all the wars. He literally said there would be no more wars if he was elected. So why does he need to plan for war?"
Huh?
You currently mine about half your copper needs—the rest is imported. Copper’s in the ground, and you get it where you can. Unless you dramatically expand domestic exploration and extraction, that reliance won’t change. Tariffs won’t fix geology.
All copper is a bastard.
If America wielded more “soft power” like USAID (which Trump basically shuttered), it would likely need fewer bullets and weapons! PRIORITIES… which are determined by LEADERSHIP!
Hassett is really having a hot Sunday
I guess someone forgot to tell Trump best case is 15-30 years from exploration to operation. That's if they aren't stopped by the onslaught of lawsuits from environmental groups, tribal, state & local leaders. Copper takes an immense amount of water to mine, pollutes waterways, destroys habitats
Disrupts tribal lands and burial sites, widespread health issues for workers and communities, copper mines are finite. It's boom/bust economy. Wtf do you think we have copper mine ghost towns across the SW? Creates a housing bubble and leaves communities devasted on e the deposit is mined.
US currently mines up to 70% of copper used. It fluctuates. Est is between 50-70%. We import 30-50% - annual cost is equivalent to opening a mine. A smart person would invest in finding sustainable copper operations that mitigate negative impact while continuing to import 30-50% w/o tariffs.
Oh, don't worry, if Trump has his way, there won't be any more environmental groups or tribal leaders. He'll probably make complaining about pollution a felony.
Sadly, yes. Still, he can't just wave a wand and start mining copper somewhere. It's slightly more complicated. I doubt he will have a new mine operating before the end of his term. Exception might be the project in Minnesota, but that's a stretch.
He’s also an idiot
They try the dementia excuse but i really believe it's just stupidity, he really is just a stupid stupid person.
It’s probably both
True
I agree he is. But if we can get rid of him with dementia then I’m in
Could you do it before 17th September please? We do not want your felon over here.
Probably not until the election November 2026
I'm not holding my breath for that 😜
Yes. It’s just getting harder for him to mask.
"The president decided." Hahahahahahahahahahahahahaha Sob.
We subsidize farmers for tens of millions of dollars each year, just so they can dump corn products into every aspect of our lives, but somehow spending a few billion to build the capabilities around a strategic asset is too expensive.
The orange dribble running down his chin is disgusting 🤮
Hasset hasn’t heard about the TACO policy?
The US produces less than 5% of world’s copper production. You just don’t find and mine new copper overnight.
A copper mining and refining facility just became more expensive, because the price of copper is increasing due to tariffs.
He has never, ever planned to build a winning strategy for this nation. If he did, his benefactors would take their money back (out of his hide).
Anybody else alarmed that he cites war first rather than some domestic use for a commodity?
Alarmed, yes. Surprised, no.
It takes about 10 years to build a copper mine. Tariffs will not increase copper production in the U.S. any time soon.
🤡
So, according to Hassett, this is BS because we haven't yet felt the effects of tariffs that haven't taken effect yet? #kakistocracy
A hypothetical war (which is always a possibility) is not a national security emergency.
Gotta give Hassett credit, he’s consistent in his BS.
When this is all over Hassett has a budding career ahead of him. Saturday Night Live is always looking for unimaginative writers of neither funny nor entertaining content.
Couldn’t we keep copper prices the same, and start creating our own stores of it for these “National Emergencies”? They keep saying everything is for National Security, what are they planning??
How about not pissing off allies like Canada who have, er, the copper mines that you say you need. 🤷♀️
“In a time of war” Remind me the last time when a county launched a large scale attack on America? Was it a week ago?
Well, let's face it - he's dying for one. That MOAB was just the start of his addiction.
I think trump has now overplayed his hand. Look around - Europe, Canada, Australia, NZ etc are not standing around waiting for the USA to fall flat on its face. They are making contingency plans to cut the US out of the picture completely.
Tell Kid Rock and his fans to turn in all of their catalytic converters they've stolen over the years.
So as we look forward to another month of clear and unindicted case of insider trading, consider the three monkeys of Republican government:
Without making any claims to the accuracy of this source, yeah, sure...we'll just pop up a couple or 3 copper smelting plants in the US. China only produces about 24 times the amount of copper as the US, but I'm sure we'll catch right up. www.miningpedia.cn/dressing/how...
These people have no clue how things are manufactured, grown, packaged, refined, transported, additional services and infrastructure required..etc...etc...etc... It is all just numbers on paper/screen to them. Disabled, seniors and kids can just "make those numbers into reality" ...can't they ??
Trump gonna make the penny worthless so he can melt down for the copper … but mostly because he can’t stand the competition from Lincoln. (Yes, I know Pennies are Zn, but does Trump know (anything?)).
So making it more expensive to produce those weapons. Real stable genius.
“We want to make sure we can make weapons if there’s a war; therefore, we are making it harder to get the materials to make them now, when there is no war.” Does he think it’s easier to get supplies during war then peace? These men are stupid.
Yeah, this isn’t 1940. Any wars worth fighting will be over in days or weeks, not years. The time from extraction to finished product would be way too late. But tariffs seem to be the only toy in his toy box.
Ukraine? Afg?
What about the wars not worth fighting? Also worth noting the most recent example of a nation-state traditional war is over three years old. Over 11 years old if you count the Russian invasion in 2014.
Iraq, Iran…. Going back, Vietnam….. any war based on lies. Going forward, Canada, Greenland, etc.
My only hope is that his vanity of wanting to win a Nobel Peace Prize restrains his jingoism and his desire to show “strength”
The threats to the United States that Trump is inflaming.
If we didn't alienate our allies we wouldn't need to worry so much about war.
🙄
To be correct it’s a 50% tax paid by Americans Trump just jacked up the price of copper by 50%
If the supply is fulfilled, where does the demand for more production come from?
Grinning fool
Wut
This incurious president is being lied to by a bunch of incompetent swindlers. We are all fucked.
This guy really does talk utter bullshit
Republican logic is an oxymoron.
What are the homegrowns gonna do With the copper?
And the US has enemies and face threats BECAUSE OF THE ASS IN THE WH.
How many years to install the plants to extract and refine copper from the ore, to replace the imports (half of the country's total copper consumption)?
Sounds like the rich’s attitude. We have plenty, but not enough.
He has a humiliation kink I guess
We have loads of copper but we need to ramp up copper production! Makes total sense! 👍
we don’t have loads of copper. why would we want to deplete our supply in peace time
It’s always “the bottom line is” with this guy. The bottom line is this has nothing to do with National Security
This is accurate. Critical infrastructure includes the supply chain - and we outsourced way too much manufacturing overseas. But, how this Administration is going about solving this issue leaves a lot to be desired.
So who is going to be working in the copper mines? Medicaid recipients? Who?
Back in the day many miners were immigrants. Many were recruited by the mining companies.
Jon Karl should be ashamed of himself. He knows the guy’s lying and he lets him do it. Shame on ABC shame on Karl
Plenty of copper in all those national parks Trumps just opened up for strip mining. ☹️
I thought he was going to win a Nobel Peace prize, so what's with all this fightin' talk? He promised no wars.
So many different Copper Wars going on in America at the same time.
This is what happens when you listen to a crazy arsehole, who knows shit about shit.
Not to mention it's going to hurt housing.
3/3 Trump's tariffs also are likely to increase US inflation.
2/2 But Trump wants tariff revenues coming in to tout as offsets against his massive tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans. Trump doesn't care that copper tariffs are paid for by American businesses and consumers, or that they will make US products containing copper less competitive in export mkts.
If increasing US copper production & refining was truly Trump's objective, it would be less disruptive to the US economy and its businesses and consumers to incentivize more copper production & refining than to impose massive tariffs on copper imports. 1/2
Wow he’s whacked.
Idiot
6 times bankrupt and you trust his business advice. 😂😂😂
Except they won’t follow that up with funds to actually support new industries so we just end up paying 50% more
If this were anywhere near being true than the stupid bastards could just deregulate (which they love to do) and help both Resolution Copper and Rosemont Copper open their mines. .
They want to melt down the Statue of Liberty.
A blue one.
Why? Red states want jobs, right? It should be easy enough to find some minors to mine it! (not a typo on minors!)
This is just a backdoor way for selling off public land to cronies to rape and pillage.
Everything DJT’s regime is doing is preparing for war. Ship building. War economy. Desperate poor = soldiers, miners, smelters, laborers in the most dangerous conditions. Destroying relationships. Harming allies, making enemies.
Why does this feel like a missing chapter from Atlas Shrugged?
The threats that America faces? So America is getting threats under a "peace" president? 😀 A time of war? Under a "peace" president? 😆
Hassett has become incoherent, twisting himself in knots to defend Trump's policies. Sold his soul as an economist and a person.
If we need more copper, the. Importing it at lower prices seems to be a better idea. Perhaps at the same time we could subsidize American copper production to meet critical needs.
The tariffs are a prelude to war. Got it. Thanks.
Is that why Trump wants to discontinue the penny? We need the copper to fulfill americas needs?
We need Copper so let’s make it extra expensive is a bold strategy
What is he so happy about?
