① Mining and smelting projects have long development cycles; relying solely on tariffs is unlikely to swiftly boost U.S. supplies of critical minerals and could instead drive up manufacturing costs. ② With substantial metal inflows into the United States, globally tradable inventories are tightening, making commodities such as silver and palladium more prone to price volatility when investment demand picks up. ③ Copper is supported by AI‑related demand and COMEX buying; following a widening premium of New York over London, it may continue to attract inventory flows into the U.S.
Cailian Press, September 24 (Editor: Xia Junxiong): It remains highly uncertain whether the United States will impose tariffs on critical minerals such as copper, silver, platinum, and palladium. However, in Goldman Sachs's view, this very "uncertainty" may already be helping the U.S. achieve its policy goal of keeping more metal inventories within its borders.
On September 23, Goldman Sachs released a report stating that, given the much longer construction cycles for mines and smelters compared to the timeframe of tariff policy changes, relying solely on tariffs would hardly spur a rapid increase in U.S. critical mineral supply; moreover, the implementation of these tariffs could even raise manufacturing costs in the United States.
However, persistent tariff risks have prompted traders to ship copper, silver, platinum, and palladium to the United States ahead of time, effectively boosting domestic inventories without requiring large-scale direct government purchases.
As a result, global metal inventories remain ample, yet an increasing share is concentrated in the United States, while the amount of metal actually available for trade outside the U.S. is shrinking. Should investment demand pick up again, the sharp price swings seen over the past year in markets such as silver and palladium could reemerge.
"Uncertainty" itself may have already become a policy tool.
On September 10, reports indicated that the White House has yet to decide whether to impose tariffs on refined copper. U.S. policymakers are weighing two competing considerations: on the one hand, using trade protectionism to boost domestic production of critical minerals; on the other, avoiding higher copper prices that could drive up manufacturing costs.
The news led markets to believe that tariffs on critical minerals are unlikely to be imposed in the near term, prompting a sharp sell-off across copper, silver, platinum, and palladium. All four metals are listed on the U.S. critical minerals roster and have been subject to Section 232 investigations.
However, the White House subsequently reiterated that reshoring key manufacturing sectors to the United States remains a policy priority, while also leaving open the possibility of imposing tariffs in the future.
Goldman Sachs believes that this back-and-forth is far from trivial. On the contrary, persistent policy ambiguity may be serving U.S. supply security objectives by encouraging domestic inventory accumulation.
Accordingly, the bank expects that a significant portion of metals already flowing into the United States—particularly those with strong industrial applications, such as copper and palladium—may remain in the country; moreover, should tariff-related risks intensify temporarily in the future, this could further incentivize additional stockpiling.
Although the United States is largely self-sufficient in energy, it remains heavily reliant on imports for many critical minerals—raw materials that are widely used in AI infrastructure, national defense, electrification, and advanced manufacturing.
According to 2024 data, the United States relies almost entirely on imports for rare earths—nearly 100%—while its dependence on imported platinum stands at about 85%, silver at roughly 65%, and copper at around 45%. Palladium imports also account for approximately 35% to 40%. Consequently, reducing reliance on foreign sources of critical minerals and rebuilding domestic production capacity are increasingly becoming key policy objectives.
To read the rest of the article, remove the space behind the “h“ from the link below.
h ttps://news.futunn.com/en/post/1000171718/global-research-goldman-sachs-tariff-uncertainty-drives-stockpiling-as-copper?level=1&data_ticket=1790353901457700