The Globe and Mail reports in its Wednesday edition that U.S. President Donald Trump plans to impose tariffs on copper imports, potentially piling even more pressure on a Canadian economy already reeling from levies on aluminum, steel and cars. The Globe's Niall McGee writes that Mr. Trump said Tuesday that he plans to announce 50-per-cent tariffs on copper soon. The tariffs would be imposed on national-security grounds and justified by the contention that the U.S. needs to boost domestic production of one of the most widely used metals in the economy. The U.S. is a major market for Canadian copper exports, accounting for $4.8-billion, or 52 per cent, of all the country's exports of the metal in 2023. While the U.S. is a much bigger copper producer than Canada, it still relies heavily on copper imports from Canada to meet its needs. Canada last year accounted for 99 per cent of the U.S.'s imports of copper concentrate. The tariffs will embolden U.S. domestic copper producers to charge more for their products, said Stuart McDonald, chief executive officer of Taseko Mines. Taseko, operator of the Gibraltar mine in British Columbia, Canada's second-biggest copper mine, predominantly sends its copper concentrate to Asia.