The United States imported a record 225,094 metric tons of refined copper and copper alloys in July, official data showed on Thursday, as traders continued to ship large volumes of the metal before a tariff is potentially imposed.
The July figure released by the U.S. Department of Commerce is the highest monthly total in records going back to 1990, according to data from Trade Data Monitor. It was up 78% from the previous month and up 8% year-on-year.
The surge in imports comes as the market awaits clarity on a proposed U.S. import tariff. The Department of Commerce was due to update President Donald Trump on copper markets by June 30 but there has been no announcement since.
The uncertainty has fuelled a record build on the U.S. COMEX exchange, where copper inventories HG-STX-COMEX have risen for 53 days straight to an all-time high of 764,597 short tons, or 693,630 metric tons.
Some 46% of the U.S. imports in July came from Chile, the world’s biggest copper-mining nation, with Democratic Republic of Congo ranking second and supplying almost one-quarter of the total volume.
U.S. copper imports in the first seven months of 2026 were 1.12 million tons, up 4.2% from the same period of 2025, when a similar tariff threat hung over the market before refined copper was given an exemption.
(Reporting by Tom Daly; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)
