TMTPOST -- U.S. President Donald Trump on  threatened to escalate the worldwide trade war with new sectoral tariffs.

Credit：Xinhua News Agency

Trump said he would impose a 50% tariffs on all copper imported into the United States during a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday, without specifying when the new levies would go into effect. “Today, we’re doing copper,” Trump said at the White House. “I believe the tariff on copper, we’re going to make it 50%.”

U.S. copper price jumped as much as 17% following Trump’s remarks. Futures contracts for the meta closed 13% higher on Tuesday, the largest single-day price gain in records dating back to 1968, according to Dow Jones Market Data. 

The Trump administration believes copper plays a critical role in defense applications, infrastructure and merging technologies. Trump on February 25 signed an executive order to direct the U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick to probe into the effects of copper imports on national security under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962.  

Lutnick told CNBC later Tuesday that the aforementioned investigation had concluded and he expected the copper levy is likely to be put in place end of July, maybe August 1.

Trump during the meeting disclosed steep tariffs on the pharmaceutical sector will be announced “very soon”, while he could offer the pharmaceutical manufacturers at least a year for transition of their production to the U.S. before implementing the tariffs up to 200%.  "We’re going to give people about a year, year and a half to come in, and after that they're going to be tariffed," Trump said. "If they have to bring the pharmaceuticals into the country, … they're going to be tariffed at a very high rate — like 200%."

Trump also said he was planning tariffs on semiconductors, though didn’t provide details such as timetable and tariff rates.

Trump in the Cabinet meeting reiterated his threat that nations join BRICS and engage in policy to reduce the dollar's dominance will soon face an additional tariff of 10%. "Anybody that’s in BRICS is getting a 10% charge … pretty soon,” Trump told reporters on Tuesday during a Cabinet meeting. "If they’re a member of BRICS, they’re going to have to pay a 10% tariff just for that one thing." 

BRICS is an intergovernmental organization that includes Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, United Arab Emirates, Ethiopia, Indonesia and Iran. Trump in a social media post on Sunday warned that countries that align with “Anti-American” BRICS policies will face an additional 10% tariffs. “Any Country aligning themselves with the Anti-American policies of BRICS, will be charged an ADDITIONAL 10% Tariff. There will be no exceptions to this policy,” said Trump in the post.

Trump now levies on worldwide imports of automobile, steel and aluminum. Trump late March signed an executive proclamation to impose a 25% tariff on all automobile imports, effective on eastern daylight time April 3 at 12:01 a.m. He said that the tariff hit “all cars that not made in the United States”, and if the cars are “made in the United States, it’s absolutely no tariff.” The president confirmed on April 2 the auto tariffs entered effect as scheduled.

Trump on June 2 signed a proclamation to raised tariffs on steel and aluminum imports into the country to 50% from 25%, taking into effect on June 4. The new tariffs apply to imports from all the U.S. trading partners except Britain.

This is the second time that Trump hiked tariffs on steel and aluminum imports in nearly three months. The president on February 10 signed an order to impose 25% steel and aluminum tariffs starting March 12. He in the meantime removed the exemptions from his 2018 tariffs on steel, meaning that all steel imports should be taxed at a minimum of 25%, and also raises his 2018 aluminum tariffs from 10% to 25%.