President Trump said the U.S. would slap a 50% tariff on copper imports, vaulting the price of the metal used in everything from water pipes to power lines and pricey kitchen sinks to an all-time high. 

The front-month futures contract for the metal jumped by 13% to $5.645 a pound, the biggest one-day move in records going back to 1968, The Wall Street Journal’s Alexander Osipovich writes. The U.S. last year imported nearly half of the copper it consumed, the Journal’s David Uberti and Ryan Dezember report, with most of those shipments coming from Chile and Canada. It is China, the target of much of Trump’s trade rhetoric, that dominates the global supply chain, however. Between 2019 and 2024, China invested nearly half of the $55 billion committed to new copper mines globally, according to Wood Mackenzie.

At a cabinet meeting, the president also discussed tariffs of up to 200% on pharmaceuticals and said he might send a letter to the European Union within the next two days threatening steep tariffs if the bloc doesn't reach a trade deal with the U.S. On Monday, he sent similar letters to 14 countries, mostly in Asia, outlining higher tariffs slated to go into effect Aug. 1, a date he insisted on Tuesday he would stick to.

• Trump decided to delay the implementation of tariffs to Aug. 1 after advisers including Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent lobbied for more time to cut trade deals. (WSJ) 
• Members of the Brics bloc of nations—Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa—will pay an additional 10% tariff, Trump said, with levies to be imposed “pretty soon.” (WSJ)
• Negotiations with the Trump administration are testing European cohesion as the bloc inches toward a potential trade deal with the U.S. (WSJ)
• Economists expect higher tariffs to directly impede economic growth by weakening demand for goods in the U.S. and exports to it from the rest of the world. (WSJ)
• The Trump administration said it would work with state lawmakers to ban sales of U.S. farmland to buyers from China and other countries due to national security concerns. (WSJ)

Ford Motor said it was on track to qualify for Biden-era federal tax credits for EV batteries it plans to make at a $3 billion factory under construction in Michigan. The Journal’s Christopher Otts writes that the final version of the tax-and-spending megabill Trump signed into law on July 4 softened restrictions on credits for projects relying on so-called foreign-entities of concern. An earlier version of the bill would have rendered the plant ineligible for the lucrative credits because Ford is licensing technology from leading Chinese battery maker CATL for the cells it will make, as well as for the factory’s production processes. Ford has argued it would take years for it to develop on its own the low-cost battery cells that are urgently needed to bring down EV prices and boost sales.

• The U.S. tax-and-spending megabill favors obsolete gasoline-powered cars and hands Chinese EV companies a win globally, the head of a Chinese auto-industry group said. (WSJ)
• China’s auto sales grew 18% from a year earlier to 2.1 million vehicles in June, even as carmakers began cutting inventories amid increased government scrutiny of pricing practices. (WSJ)
• Nissan Motor will postpone output of two EVs in the U.S. for up to a year as subsidies dry up and demand withers. (Nikkei Asia)

Three crew members were killed on a Liberian-flagged, Greek-owned bulk carrier attacked by Yemen’s Houthi militants in the Red Sea, according to an EU naval force. The Associated Press reports that the militants haven’t yet claimed responsibility for the attack, but Yemen’s exiled government, the EU force and the U.S. Embassy in Yemen blamed the rebels. The vessel, the Eternity C, was heading toward the Suez Canal when it was fired on by men in small boats and hit by bomb-carrying drones Monday night. The Houthis on Tuesday did claim the sinking of the bulk carrier Magic Seas on Sunday. That was the first such assault since Trump announced a truce with the Houthis in May. The group says its attacks are in support of Palestinians in Gaza. Before the truce, dozens of Houthi attacks on commercial and military vessels since November 2023 had effectively frozen shipping in the critical maritime corridor.

• The Indian state of Kerala is suing Mediterranean Shipping and seeking $1.1 billion in compensation over the sinking of the containership MSC Elsa 3 in May. (Lloyd’s List)
• A 66-year-old Belgian marine pilot due to retire next month was severely injured when he fell as he climbed the ladder from a pilot boat to a ship. (Maritime Executive)

U.S. small businesses became a little more pessimistic last month, with a gauge of sentiment edging down a fifth of a point to 98.6. (WSJ)

Germany’s exports fell 1.4% from April for a second straight month in May in response to higher U.S. tariffs. (WSJ)

Daimler Truck expects to cut around 5,000 jobs in Germany over the next five years as it shifts production of Mercedes-Benz trucks to a more cost-effective country. (WSJ)

Porsche car deliveries fell 6% in the first half of the year to 146,391 vehicles as strong growth in North America failed to offset sharp declines in China and Germany. (WSJ)

Australia’s central bank surprised financial markets by leaving the official cash rate at 3.85%, saying it could afford more time to assess the economic outlook. (WSJ)

Boeing delivered 150 planes in the second quarter, the highest quarterly level since 2023, a promising sign for efforts to turn around the beleaguered plane maker. (WSJ)

TopBuild struck a deal to buy commercial-roofing services provider Progressive Roofing from alternative asset manager Bow River Capital for $810 million in cash. (WSJ Pro)

Honeywell International is evaluating strategic alternatives for its productivity solutions-and-services unit and its warehouse- and workflow-solutions segment ahead of its split into three companies. (WSJ)

Amazon’s Prime Day, which kicked off Tuesday, is four days long this year instead of two, and is expected to bring in a record $12.9 billion in the U.S., up 53% from last year. (WSJ)

Samsung Electronics expects its second-quarter operating profit to more than halve from a year earlier, hurt by U.S. trade curbs on China and delayed sales of chips to Nvidia. (WSJ)

Wendy’s CEO Kirk Tanner is stepping down to assume the top job at Hershey. (WSJ)

Louis Vuitton owner LVMH named Michael Burke as chairman and CEO of its Americas division. (WSJ)

Swedish fast-fashion retailer H&M and German recycling company Remondis formed a joint venture to handle reusing and recycling up to 150 million garments a year. (Journal of Commerce)

Fresh tomatoes in the U.S. might soon cost more as a long-running deal with Mexico expires in less than a week, unless a last-minute deal or extension is reached. (Bloomberg)

The Shanghai Stock Exchange reportedly cleared the merger of China State Shipbuilding and China Shipbuilding Industry, which would create the world’s largest shipbuilding conglomerate. (gCaptain)

Mark R. Long is editor of WSJ Logistics Report. Reach him at mark.long@wsj.com. Follow the WSJ Logistics Report team on LinkedIn: Mark R. Long, Liz Young and Paul Berger.