Like the US government's country-specific tariffs, the hefty 50% levies on all steel, copper and aluminium imports go beyond economics — reflecting Trump's desire to reclaim once-dominant US industries and rally his blue-collar base.
"Much of the motivation for tariffs on the base inputs of production, such as copper, is primarily a political motivation," David Stritch, a senior FX Analyst at Caxton, told Euronews.
