NEW YORK, September 7 (Reuters) – COMEX copper closed lower on Friday as the dollar regained its uptrend against a basket of currencies, after the US’s stronger-than-expected employment data consolidated the Fed’s third rate hike this September. It is expected that concerns about the escalation of the Sino-US trade war will also exert pressure on copper prices.

The most active COMEX December copper fell 1.40 cents, and the settlement price was 2.6225 US dollars per pound.

September copper futures contract fell 1.50 cents, or 0.57%, to $2.6035 a pound.

Copper prices have weakened due to escalating trade tensions and more tariff threats that could hurt copper demand and economic growth.

US President Trump said he is ready to impose import tariffs on another $267 billion worth of Chinese goods, and is currently paying attention to whether he is taxing $200 billion in Chinese goods.

In the past 13 weeks, copper prices have fallen for 11 weeks and have fallen by about 21% since June.

ANZ’s commodities strategist Daniel Hynes said that although the escalation of trade conflicts triggered market concerns about China’s economic growth, China’s imports and inventory data showed little impact so far.

China’s copper demand accounts for about half of the global copper demand.

Hynes cautioned that China’s environmental protection initiatives and supply-side reforms have also affected China’s copper production levels, making it more dependent on imports.

He said: “Domestic production is affected, and China’s copper imports are expected to remain strong. In fact, copper imports have increased by 16% since the beginning of the year.”

“Inventories have also fallen. The basic metal stocks of the exchange have been reduced by 10-20% in the three months since the trade war escalated.”

Copper is denominated in US dollars, and when the dollar strengthens, copper prices are more expensive than investors holding non-US dollar currencies. US employment growth accelerated in August, and wage growth hit its biggest annual growth in nine years, which raised the market’s view that the Fed will continue to raise interest rates, while pushing up the dollar.