By Fabian Cambero

SANTIAGO (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 (OTC: GLNCY ) and Anglo American (JO: AGLJ ) 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.