How AI & Tariffs Have Helped Drive Copper's Summer Rally

While many metals and commodities are worth keeping an eye on right now, one that may warrant particular focus is copper.

The price of spot copper saw a noticeable increase in July, rising 3.65% over the one month alone. This is happening due to a slew of favorable factors, including uncertain copper tariffs, AI’s effect on energy infrastructure, and more. Sprott offers straightforward access to the copper mining industry through the Sprott Copper Miners ETF (COPP) .

To start with, copper itself had a fairly strong performance in July. As Jacob White, CFA, director, ETF product management, Sprott Asset Management noted , the price of spot copper was up 3.65% over the past month, as of July 31, 2026. Year-to-date, the price of the red metal is up 11.10%, as of the same date.

Advisors and investors are probably wondering why copper has been doing so well as of late. In the Sprott insights piece, White highlighted a slew of different factors backing spot copper’s price momentum. Among these factors, two in particular may stand out as a surprise to some: tariffs and artificial intelligence.

For tariffs, White explained how confusion over copper tariffs altered global trade for the metal. The United States had imposed a 50% tariff on semi-finished copper products, but did not initially adopt a recommendation from the U.S. Commerce Department for refined copper tariffs. This left many in the market scratching their heads over how refined copper was going to be taxed — if at all — when it was imported to the United States. Because of these doubts, companies were incentivized to transport refined copper into the U.S. before potential tariffs would go into effect. As a result, White noted that over 200,000 metric tons of refined copper reached U.S. ports in July. White said that this marked the largest monthly inflow, according to data that extends back to 2014.

While refined copper was already being shipped into the U.S. at scale, structural demand for the metal is continuing to scale up. Artificial intelligence has obviously been a significant market theme as of late, but as White pointed out, the narrative is shifting from a need for hardware towards a need for stronger electrical infrastructure. Of course, copper plays a key role in manufacturing electrical infrastructure, given its multitude of industrial applications.

Put together, the current picture for copper is quite appealing. Not only is the price of the metal doing well, but refined copper is moving to the United States en masse, and AI will continue to be a long-term driver of demand for the metal. These developments could bode well for the Sprott Copper Miners ETF (COPP) . COPP is a fund from the Sprott team that provides exposure to both copper miners and physical copper itself.