President Donald Trump has unveiled plans to impose a 50 percent tariff on copper.

“Today, we’re doing copper,” Trump said at a July 8 Cabinet meeting in front of reporters. “I believe the tariff on copper, we’re going to make it 50 percent.”

The president stopped short of providing specifics, such as the exact date the tariff would take effect.

Speaking to CNBC’s “Power Lunch,” Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said the president’s tariff will likely take effect at the end of July, or on Aug. 1. He said that the purpose of the new tariff is to increase domestic copper production.

In addition to copper, the president threatened to impose tariffs of up to 200 percent on pharmaceuticals imported into the United States. However, Trump noted that these higher import duties would not take effect right away; instead, he would “give people about a year, year and a half.”

“We’ll give them a certain period of time to get their act together,” he sai

Lutnick later confirmed that more details about pharmaceutical tariffs would be released at the end of the month.

“With pharmaceuticals and semiconductors, those studies are being completed at the end of the month, and so the president will then set his policies then, and I’m going to let him wait to decide how he’s going to do it,” Lutnick told CNBC.

The copper tariff follows through on the president’s statement made earlier this year.

In February, Trump signed an executive order directing the Department of Commerce to address threats to national security and economic stability from copper imports.

He stated that he would impose a levy of up to 25 percent on all copper imports, and urged domestic companies to increase their production of the red metal.

Prices for the industrial metal advanced more than 11 percent to $5.55 per pound following the announcement.

The tariff follows through on the president’s statement made earlier this year. In March, Trump stated that he would impose a levy of up to 25 percent on all copper imports, and urged domestic companies to increase their production of the red metal.

The United States is one of the world’s top copper miners, producing about 1.1 million tons annually. Chile remains the largest copper producer, with 5.3 million tons. This is followed by the Democratic Republic of Congo (2.84 million), Peru (2.76 million), and China (1.83 million).

At the same time, the United States consumes about twice as much as it produces, resulting in the country’s dependence on imports, mainly from Chile.

Copper is a crucial component for electric vehicles and renewable energy sources. Additionally, it will be a vital source for advancing the president’s economic agenda, particularly in artificial intelligence, data centers, robotics, and semiconductors.

In a mid-year outlook shared with The Epoch Times, Adam Turnquist, the chief technical strategist at LPL Financial, predicts that the industrial metal will be among the best commodity performers in the coming years.

“Copper stands out as a long-term winner tied to AI infrastructure,” Turnquist said.

“Copper has held up well as the metal continues to rebrand itself as an AI play. The metal’s superior conductivity is vital to powering the surge in electricity demand from data centers, and is also a key component in their buildout.”

Strengthening international demand for the base metal has driven up copper prices, which have soared by about 30 percent this year. This has also bolstered mining stocks.

Shares of Freeport-McMoRan, one of the world’s largest copper mining companies, has surged approximately 24 percent this year. Likewise, shares of Southern Copper have climbed about 16 percent.

These stocks jumped 5 percent and 1 percent, respectively, after Trump’s abrupt announcement.

However, higher prices will likely weigh on various copper-intensive sectors, including construction and technology.