Recent discussions in Washington around narrowing the scope of steel and aluminum tariffs have shifted the macro narrative for industrial metals. While copper has not been the primary target of the latest rollback rhetoric, the signal embedded in the policy shift is relevant. If the administration is willing to reconsider broad downstream or derivative tariffs to mitigate consumer price pressure and administrative complexity, the probability of an aggressive expansion into refined copper cathode declines. In that sense, the latest headlines reduce a bullish tail risk that had been quietly embedded in U.S. copper pricing: the risk of a policy-driven squeeze through import restrictions on cathode.