Freeport-McMoRan's CEO expresses concern about global growth in the face of US tariffs

Freeport-McMoRan's CEO, who is also the company's chairman and chief executive officer, expressed concern on Monday about the state of the global economy as well as the possible occurrence of a recession or inflation following the U.S. Tariffs that were implemented last week.

The comments of the world's biggest publicly traded copper producers join a chorus of concerns from top executives after U.S. president Donald Trump imposed sweeping duties ranging from 10% up to 50%. This triggered losses in the financial markets and increased tensions with China.

"We cannot ignore the fact that trade wars could cause people not to invest, not to buy, change their patterns, and affect demand," CEO Kathleen Quirk said at the CESCO Conference in Santiago, which is one of the largest annual gatherings for the copper industry.

Copper is widely used in the global economy for power generation, electronic devices, and construction. Its nickname, "Dr. Copper", is a result of its ubiquity.

Quirk said that although mining companies should wait to see what happens with tariffs, the recent drop in copper prices was not good for the long term. The industry relies on multi-billion-dollar investments.

Quirk said last month that even though U.S. Copper Tariffs could increase Freeport's profit by $400 million per year, she was concerned about the impact of these tariffs on the global economic situation. She reiterated this concern on Monday.

She said that "all of us" will depend on a market with a growing demand, and that won't be affected by the big recessions we have seen in the past.

Freeport, a U.S. company, also has significant operations in Chile and Peru, Europe, and Indonesia. Quirk welcomed the idea that the United States could produce more copper, in line with Trump’s goal of increasing domestic production in order to counterbalance the dominance by China.

The company already is the largest copper producer in the United States and operates one out of two smelters that produce the red metal. (Reporting and editing by Ernest Scheyder, Rod Nickel, and Daina Beth Sool)

(source: Reuters)