Copper giant Chile monitoring US probe into potential metals tariffs

By Fabian Cambero

SANTIAGO (Reuters) - Chile's foreign ministry said on Wednesday it is "monitoring" a U.S. probe looking into potential new tariffs on imports of copper, a metal critical to electric vehicles, military hardware, the power grid and many consumer goods.

In a short response to Reuters, the ministry said it would watch how things developed after U.S. President Donald Trump ordered the probe in a move to thwart what his advisers see as a move by China to dominate the global copper market.

The ministry later released a statement saying it has held meetings to examine possible consequences for Chile, adding that a technical team is doing an analysis.

"If necessary, recommendations come from this group but we can't speculate until there's a specific announcement," the statement cautioned, adding that the Trump administration had given 9 months to study potential copper tariffs.

Chile, which runs down the mountainous Andean west coast of South America, is the world's largest copper miner and the top supplier of the key industrial metal to the United States. Most of Chile's copper, however, is shipped to China.

Trump on Tuesday signed an order to start a national security probe under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962. That is the same law Trump used in his first term to impose 25% global tariffs on steel and aluminum.

Broader tariffs on these metals and motor vehicles are set to come into force next month amid a cascade of new U.S. import tax orders since Trump took office in January.

BHP, Glencore and Anglo American are among the major international miners operating in Chile, alongside state producer Codelco, which declined to comment on the topic.

Last year, Chile's copper production climbed 4.9% to hit 5.5 million metric tons.

(Reporting by Fabian Cambero; Editing by Sarah Morland and David Gregorio)