The United States may impose new tariffs on gold, causing U.S. gold futures to hit an all-time high

The Financial Times reported that "the United States imposed tariffs on imports of one kilogram of gold bars." According to the bombshell article, the information came from a July 31 ruling letter from U.S. Customs and Border Protection. A Swiss refiner reportedly received the ruling letter after formally asking for clarification on which types of gold products, if any, would be exempt from the tariffs.

Earlier this month, Switzerland unfortunately became one of the countries subject to unusually high tariff rates. These are mostly smaller countries that do little trade with the American economy. However, some countries play a significant role in certain areas of global trade, such as Switzerland, the global center for refining precious metals. On Thursday, import duties from Switzerland to the United States, where gold is one of Switzerland's main exports, were raised to 39 percent.

Switzerland exported $61.50 billion worth of gold to the United States in the 12 months to June. The same amount of gold will now be subject to an additional $24 billion tariff.

The article discusses the impact of the recent tariff ruling on the Swiss gold trade, highlighting concerns raised by Christoph Wild, president of the Swiss Association of Precious Metals Manufacturers and Traders, who noted that the imposition of gold tariffs poses a significant challenge to meeting gold demand in the US market.

Earlier this year, before President Trump's tariffs were implemented (known as "Emancipation Day"), traders preemptively increased U.S. gold imports, causing a large accumulation of gold on the New York Mercantile Exchange and a temporary shortage in the London market.

However, the tariff announcement includes exemptions for several commodities, notably a special classification of gold bars, believed to include large bars. This is crucial given the typical triangular flow of gold transactions. Large bars circulate between London and New York markets, via Switzerland, and then resize according to their respective market preferences.The London market favors 400 troy ounce bars, while the New York market favors kilograms.

The news helped New York futures gold prices rise by more than $50 on Thursday (August 7). New York gold futures closed at $3482.70, up $50.90, or 1.48%; on Friday, the Asian market rose by about 1.6% at one point, setting a new all-time high of $3,534.1 an ounce. As traders digest this new obstacle in the global supply chain, the market value of gold reached the world's highest $23 trillion. Gold prices are likely to continue to rise as a result, and may reach all-time highs in the coming days.

New York gold continuous daily chart, source: Internet

Beijing time on August 8 at 10:28, New York gold continued to trade at $3493.2 per ounce.