LONODN (Bloomberg) -- 
Copper rallied more than 1% in London after the Washington Post reported that President-elect Donald Trump’s aides are exploring tariff plans that would be applied to every country, but only cover imports of key goods.
The plans would pare back a pledge made on the campaign trail to apply tariffs on all goods imported into the U.S., the paper reported, citing three unidentified people familiar with the matter.
The threat of so-called universal tariffs has weighed heavily on metals markets, with analysts warning that the measures could fuel inflation in the U.S. and exacerbate a slowdown in China’s industrial economy. Instead, aides are discussing targeted tariffs in sectors where Trump is seeking to boost domestic production, including defense, medical supplies and energy, the paper said.
The dollar fell following the report, lending support to metals by boosting buying power for commodities importers in countries like China. Aluminum was little changed, having earlier slumped to a three-month low, amid ongoing concerns that an escalation of trade frictions during Trump’s second term would put further pressure on China’s currency.
China set its daily reference rate stronger than the line of 7.2 yuan per dollar on Monday, reaffirming its support for the currency after its slide last week fanned speculation policymakers would allow it to depreciate faster.
Copper was 1.3% higher at $8,993 a ton on the London Metal Exchange as of 12:28 p.m. local time. Most other metals were flat to higher.