Copper and silver futures in New York surged above international benchmarks as traders ramped up bets that Mr. Trump would impose steep import tariffs on the two metals. New York Mercantile Exchange (COMEX) front-month silver futures traded at a premium of more than $0.80 an ounce to spot silver prices in London on Thursday, near their December peak. COMEX front-month copper also traded at a premium of $623 a tonne to LME copper for the same period, close to the record during the historic short squeeze that rocked the global copper market last year. Traders have been scrambling to ship copper to US warehouses since last year to take advantage of the price surge. A similar situation has been underway since silver prices in New York began to surge. Ole Hansen, head of commodity strategy at Saxo Bank, said: "Investors around the world are starting the year looking for protection against tricky and potentially rising inflation, fiscal debt concerns and the unpredictability of Trump." The COMEX price blowout "is certainly part of the Trump unpredictability story".