After 23 hours of pandemonium in bullion markets, the White House has hinted it may row back on a decision that sent gold traders scrambling. An executive order, to be issued “in the near future”, will clarify that imports of gold bars are not, in fact, subject to tariffs, according to an official statement, reported Bloomberg. The aim, the administration says, is to correct “misinformation” about duties on gold and other speciality goods.
The reassurance followed a surprise ruling from U.S. Customs and Border Protection, which stated that one-kilogram and 100-ounce gold bars would incur reciprocal tariffs. The decision, triggered by a Swiss refiner’s request for guidance, risked upending the mechanics of the U.S. futures market and freezing global shipments. Switzerland, the world’s largest refiner of gold, sends much of its output to America.
Markets lurched in response. The spread between New York Comex futures and London spot prices ballooned to over $100 an ounce before collapsing to under $60 after the White House intervened. Mining stocks from Newmont to Agnico Eagle shed earlier gains; gold-linked ETFs and royalty firms followed suit.
Gold is not copper, steel or aluminium. It is both a commodity and a financial asset, a store of value and a global quasi-currency. Tariffs on it are as rare as they are disruptive. Traders had already begun freezing shipments on fears the U.S. might suddenly tax bullion imports, lumping them in with more prosaic metals targeted by President Donald Trump’s tariff salvos.
The episode underscores the hazards of Trump’s rapid, unpredictable tariff decisions and demonstrates how little consideration has been given to the complexities of global trade.
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