The most-traded August copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange slipped 0.9 percent to 51,850 yuan ($8,011) a tonne on Wednesday as a deepening trade row between China and the United States capped any recovery in risk appetite.
In Shanghai, aluminium dropped as much as 1.8 percent to an 11-week low of 14,035 yuan per tonne and zinc touched a 3-1/2-week low of 23,335 yuan.
"While the (trade) tariffs in themselves don't derail the narrative of global economic growth, the prospect of further punitive measures taken by both the US and China certainly heightens that risk," Commonwealth Bank of Australia analyst Vivek Dhar wrote in a report.
China has underestimated US President Donald Trump's resolve to impose more tariffs unless it changes its "predatory" trade practices, a White House trade adviser said.
Trump threatened on Monday to hit $200 billion of Chinese imports with 10 percent tariffs if Beijing retaliated against his previous targeting of $50 billion in imports, aimed at pressuring China to stop stealing US intellectual property.