US prioritizes strategic metals to reshore manufacturing, secure supply chains: BIR speakers

The US is increasingly viewing metals through a strategic lens, implementing tariffs and trade policies aimed at reshoring manufacturing and securing critical mineral supply chains, nonferrous metal industry participants told the Bureau of International Recycling convention in Valencia May 27.

The Trump administration's trade restrictions had created significant uncertainty in global metals markets, with particular focus on aluminum, steel and potentially copper, said Adam Shafer, assistant vice president of international trade and global affairs at the Recycled Materials Association.

"The goal is always to reshore, to bring manufacturing back to the US," he said, noting that while 70% of recycled materials processed in the US were consumed domestically, the industry remained concerned about import restrictions and potential retaliatory measures against US exports.

The US had implemented emergency border tariffs affecting Canada, Mexico and China; reimposed Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum, and introduced a new baseline 10% universal tariff on most products.

Shafer said the Section 232 tariffs in steel and aluminum had always excluded scrap, such as recycled aluminum, although they did include shredded wear parts, which were primarily foundry materials.

Shafer said this meant that, even if the tariffs were not directly impacting recyclers, they were impacting some who imported shredder wear parts, which were products that helped shredders operate.

Copper investigation

Copper, currently excluded from tariffs, was also the subject of a separate Section 232 investigation, although it faced a different situation than steel and aluminum, where domestic constituents had underutilized capacity.

"Even the domestic copper industry does not really support these copper import restrictions. They are more focused on trying to keep the copper in the US, even though there's not enough processing or smelting capacity and capabilities," Shafer said.

"We're really trying to focus where we think we will have the most impact," he said regarding industry advocacy efforts. "Everyone is trying to get an exclusion for the 10% reciprocal tariff measures ... but this 232 investigation will have significant impact on our members and this industry more broadly."

"The US will never be self-sufficient in copper," said Philippe Chalmin, president of CyclOpe and an economic history professor at the University of Paris-Dauphine, questioning the logic of potential copper import restrictions.

Shafer agreed that the Section 232 national security investigation "is not the right avenue to pursue an export control petition," but warned that administration decisions don't always follow established rules.

Platts, part of S&P Global Commodity Insights, assessed the daily clean copper concentrate price at $2,544/mt CIF China May 27, up 12.6% since the start of 2025.

Geopolitical tensions

Chalmin told the convention that nonferrous metals had long been at the heart of geopolitical tensions, citing current situations in Myanmar affecting tin, insurgency in the Democratic Republic of Congo impacting cobalt and tantalum, and China's dominance in rare earth elements.

He said that executive orders signed during Trump's first 100 days included mining agreements with Ukraine, green-lighting deepsea mining projects, and various domestic mining initiatives, although many faced regulatory challenges.

The administration's focus on metals extended beyond traditional industrial metals to what Chalmin called "essential metals" for defense and the energy transition.

"That's something which is important ... the fact that [Trump] reminds us that metals are essential," he said. "We know that for defense, but mainly for energy transition."

Chalmin noted the importance of strategic minerals lithium, cobalt, graphite, nickel, antimony, rare earths and tin, but said the strategic metal of the 21st century would be copper.

"The energy transition will go through electricity. I don't know what will happen with hydrogen, but for the moment -- for the 30 years to come -- we need copper," he said.

Market impacts

Despite the geopolitical focus, metals markets had remained relatively stable, with many base metals currently in surplus, Chalmin said. However, certain critical metals, such as antimony, germanium and gallium, have seen price volatility linked to embargoes and tensions with China.

In addition, the uncertainty created by rapidly changing tariff policies was creating significant business challenges.

"If you're trying to trade with countries that may decide they're going to impose new tariffs or new retaliation, or the tariff rate might change while the material is on ships or already in transit, you can't plan accordingly," Shafer said.

Chalmin said China would try to limit its dependence on the US by diversifying its supply chains, as it did previously with soybeans.

"About 15 years ago, all soybeans imported by China came mostly from the US. Last year, only 25% of soybeans imported by China came from the US, the rest coming from Brazil," he said.

For US recyclers, the potential for export restrictions on copper and aluminum that some industries were advocating for were particularly concerning, Shafer said.

"It's not a question of availability. ... It's really a question of pricing," he said, noting that price concerns typically would not justify export controls under US trade policy.

"The only certainty is that the world is unstable and it will stay unstable," Chalmin said, advising businesses to focus on risk management rather than price predictions.