The United States plans to impose a 50 per cent tariff on all copper imported into the country, U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday.

He also said the plan is to impose a 200 per cent tariff on pharmaceuticals.

“I believe, the tariff on copper we’re going to make it 50 per cent,” Trump told reporters at the White House on Tuesday.

The Trump administration had announced a so-called Section 232 investigation into U.S. imports of the metal, which is a key component in supply chains for electronics and clean energy, in February.

On Tuesday, Trump also said he was planning new tariffs on pharmaceuticals.

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“If they have to bring the pharmaceuticals into the country … they’re going to be tariffed at a very, very high rate, like 200 per cent. We’ll give them a certain period of time to get their act together,” he said.

“We’re going to be announcing pharmaceuticals, chips and various couple of other things — you know, big ones,” Trump told reporters.

— With files from Reuters