Trump's tariff threat presages turbulent times for Doctor Copper

Doctor Copper has been trying to price in the potential for U.S. import tariffs since late January, when President Donald Trump first included the metal on his tariff wish list along with steel and aluminum. The threat looks set to become reality after the launch of a so-called Section 232 investigation, the same national security instrument that paved the way for steel and aluminum tariffs in Trump's first term and their extension in his current term. The tariff trade has so far played out in the arbitrage between the U.S. copper price on the CME and the international price traded…