SANTIAGO, Feb 26 (Reuters) - Chile's foreign ministry

said on Wednesday that it is "monitoring" a U.S. probe looking

into potential new tariffs on imports of copper, a metal

critical to electric vehicles, military hardware, the power grid

and many consumer goods.

In a short response to Reuters, the ministry said that it

would watch how things developed after U.S. President Donald

Trump ordered the probe in a move to thwart what his advisers

see as a move by China to dominate the global copper market.

Chile, which runs down the mountainous Andean west coast of

South America, is the world's largest copper producer and the

top supplier of the red metal to the United States. Most of

Chile's copper, however, is shipped to China.

Trump on Tuesday signed an order to start a national

security probe under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of

1962. That is the same law Trump used in his first term to

impose 25% global tariffs on steel and aluminum.

Broader tariffs on these metals and motor vehicles are

set to come into force next month amid a cascade of new U.S.

import tax orders since Trump took office in January.

BHP, Glencore ( GLCNF ) and Anglo American

are among the major international miners operating in

Chile, alongside state producer Codelco, which

declined to comment on the topic.

Last year, Chile's copper production

climbed 4.9%

to hit 5.5 million metric tons.