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U.S. President Donald Trump’s second trade blitzkrieg this week, after resuscitating his plan to enact sweeping tariffs on much of the world, was to announce 50 percent import duties on copper, freaking out the market as well as every company that uses the third-most important industrial metal.

Trump casually remarked this week that his administration had concluded its Section 232 investigation into copper imports, which ostensibly pose a national security threat and will be addressed with steep tariffs starting Aug. 1. It was the first conclusion in several ongoing national security trade investigations. Trump also mooted the idea of 200 percent tariffs on pharmaceuticals, though those duties would come later, if they come at all. That Trump opted for hefty tariffs on copper, as he had previously on imports of steel and aluminum on the same national security grounds, suggests that the other sectors under investigation—including lumber, semiconductors, and jet engines—will face higher levies as well.

U.S. President Donald Trump’s second trade blitzkrieg this week, after resuscitating his plan to enact sweeping tariffs on much of the world, was to announce 50 percent import duties on copper, freaking out the market as well as every company that uses the third-most important industrial metal.

Trump casually remarked this week that his administration had concluded its Section 232 investigation into copper imports, which ostensibly pose a national security threat and will be addressed with steep tariffs starting Aug. 1. It was the first conclusion in several ongoing national security trade investigations. Trump also mooted the idea of 200 percent tariffs on pharmaceuticals, though those duties would come later, if they come at all. That Trump opted for hefty tariffs on copper, as he had previously on imports of steel and aluminum on the same national security grounds, suggests that the other sectors under investigation—including lumber,........

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