Editor’s Note
This article reports on a significant disruption in the global gold trade, with major refineries halting shipments to the U.S. due to tariff uncertainties. The situation highlights how trade policy ambiguity can directly impact financial markets and supply chains.
Gold refineries, including a major Swiss entity, have paused deliveries of gold bullion to the United States due to uncertainty over whether country-specific import tariffs will be applied to their metal, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.
According to a ruling published on Friday on the U.S. Customs and Border Protection website, Washington could subject the most traded bullion in the United States to country-specific import tariffs, a move that would affect global supply chains.
The decision pertains to melted gold bullion from Switzerland, the world’s largest transit and refining hub, which is now subject to U.S. import tariffs of 39 percent.
The customs service indicated that the correct code to be used when shipping one-kilogram and 100-troy-ounce gold bars to the United States—the most traded sizes on the U.S. futures market—should be 7108.13.5500 and not 7108.12.10.
However, Washington in April included only the latter code on the list of products exempt from its country-specific import tariffs, and 7108.13.5500 was not on the list. The agency did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for further comment.
The Swiss Association of Manufacturers and Traders of Precious Metals (ASFCMP) said in a statement that the clarification does not apply exclusively to Switzerland, but to all one-kilogram and 100-ounce melted gold bullion imported into the United States from any country.
While Switzerland is the refining and transit hub, the United Kingdom hosts the world’s largest over-the-counter gold trading center, and South Africa and Canada are among the leading mining centers for the metal.
A major Swiss gold refinery has temporarily suspended its deliveries to the United States, a company executive told Reuters, while a logistics specialist said other industry players outside Switzerland have also halted their shipments.