Freeport-McMoRan Sinks 8% as White House Delays Refined Copper Tariff Decision Before Midterms

Freeport-McMoRan shares fell roughly 8% on September 10 after reports that the White House has held off on imposing refined copper tariffs, reversing a sharp rally that had pushed the stock toward its 52-week high on the back of record copper prices. The administration paused the decision over concerns that higher raw material costs could squeeze domestic manufacturers ahead of the November midterm elections, dashing near-term expectations that had driven copper prices to fresh record highs.

The proposed policy under review would introduce a 15% tariff on refined copper imports in January 2027, scaling up to 30% by 2028. The United States relies on imports for nearly half of its annual refined copper needs and operates only two active primary smelters, both owned by Freeport-McMoRan and Rio Tinto. Industrial buyers and international traders had already been stockpiling copper in U.S. warehouses to front-run the expected duties, tightening global spot market availability.

The selloff spread across copper and mining equities: Teck Resources and Southern Copper each fell approximately 7%, Ero Copper dropped roughly 7.7%, and the metals and mining sector as a whole declined about 3.3% on the day. Goldman Sachs, however, called Freeport-McMoRan attractively valued following the tariff-driven pullback. Separately, FCX executives appeared at the Jefferies Industrials Conference, where the company outlined its growth strategy. S&P Global projects global copper demand to surge 50% by 2040, driven by AI data center build-out and defense manufacturing.