US Copper Scrap Exports: What the 2025 Copper Proclamation and the 2026 Defense Production Act Orders Actually Require

US copper scrap exports sit in an odd spot in Washington's push to keep critical materials at home. Battery black mass and tungsten scrap now face a 100% domestic sales rule. Copper scrap was carved out of that order because it already has its own legal track, set up in July 2025 and still not fully put into effect. Here is what each document says, with dates, and what the trade numbers show.

July 30, 2025: the copper proclamation

Proclamation 10962 put a 50% tariff on imports of semi-finished copper products and copper-intensive derivatives, effective August 1, 2025 (The White House, July 30, 2025). The White House fact sheet that day said copper scrap, ores, concentrates, mattes, cathodes and anodes were not subject to those tariffs (White House fact sheet, July 30, 2025).

The scrap provisions run through the Defense Production Act instead. Commerce had recommended a domestic sales requirement of 25% for high-quality copper scrap, plus export controls on that scrap. The proclamation told the Secretary of Commerce to "take all appropriate action to implement" the recommended domestic sales requirements. The fact sheet described this as requiring 25% of high-quality US copper scrap to be sold in the US, and noted the separate export licensing recommendation.

The same proclamation asked Commerce for a market update by June 30, 2026, so the President could decide on a phased tariff on refined copper: 15% from January 1, 2027 and 30% from January 1, 2028.

Two points remain open. A September 23, 2026 report from the trade platform WasteTrade said the government had still not publicly defined "high-quality copper scrap" (WasteTrade, Sept. 23, 2026). And an October 19, 2026 analysis said the Commerce update was delivered but not made public, and that a White House official confirmed no final decision on refined copper had been made (Peacock Tariff Consulting, Oct. 19, 2026).

Recyclers' reaction in 2025

The Recycled Materials Association (ReMA), which says it represents more than 90% of the domestic recycled copper industry, welcomed the outcome on the day it was announced. President Robin K. Wiener said the administration had recognized "that the data and facts provided by our industry during the course of this investigation did not support the imposition of export restrictions on recycled copper" (ReMA, July 30, 2025).

July and August 2026: the DPA orders on other scrap

A presidential determination under Section 101 of the DPA, dated July 30, 2026, covered "recoverable critical minerals and materials" such as black mass, end-of-life rare-earth magnets and swarf. It states that the term "does not include copper scrap, which is already covered under Proclamation 10962" (The White House, July 30, 2026).

The Bureau of Industry and Security then issued a temporary final rule, published August 6, 2026. From August 27, 2026 through August 27, 2027, US sellers of black mass and tungsten waste and scrap must allocate 100% of monthly sales to US persons unless BIS grants an adjustment or exception. Comments are due by November 4, 2026 (Federal Register, 91 FR 50701, Aug. 6, 2026).

ReMA's response on August 5, 2026 argued that domestic capacity cannot yet handle the volumes recycled at home and that "exports often serve as a relief valve" for material not consumed by US manufacturers (ReMA, Aug. 5, 2026).

What the export numbers show

Copper scrap exports were already falling before any restriction. Citing USGS compilations of Census data, Recycling Today reported that the US exported more than 950,000 metric tons of copper-bearing scrap in 2024, and 467,000 tons in the first nine months of 2025 (Recycling Today, Aug. 10, 2026). Shipments to China fell from more than 394,000 tons in 2024 to under 42,000 tons in January–September 2025. In 2024 the next largest destinations after China were Canada and Thailand.

On the domestic side, the USGS estimates that old scrap supplied 160,000 tons of copper in 2025 and new manufacturing scrap 760,000 tons. Recovered copper made up about 30% of US supply. A secondary smelter in Georgia and a secondary refinery in Kentucky started up in 2025 (USGS, Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026: Copper). Shanghai Metals Market estimated in August 2026 that more than 40% of US copper scrap is already consumed domestically (SMM, Aug. 11, 2026).

What to watch

• Refined copper tariff. Mining.com reported on October 14, 2026 that BMO expects no decision before the November US midterms. It also reported market talk that a scrap export ban could be folded into any decision; an immediate ban would take about 600,000 tonnes a year of contained copper off the world market (Mining.com, Oct. 14, 2026).
• The definition. Until Commerce publishes what counts as "high-quality copper scrap", the 25% domestic sales requirement cannot be modelled precisely.
• The November 4 comment deadline on the black mass rule, where BIS asked whether more sales requirements are needed.

For broader coverage, see our copper hub, United States articles and company profiles.

How we checked this: AI-drafted from the sources linked above and checked against them by our AI editor.