Gold lost altitude fast. After Thursday’s record close at $3,491, futures eased to $3,530 on Friday. The move followed a White House line about an executive order to “clarify misinformation” on tariffs for gold bars and specialty products, as a White House official told CNBC. Crypto people get it: one policy hint and the tape twitches.
The Swiss Precious Metals Association warned U.S. tariffs “may negatively impact the international flow of physical gold.” Its president, Christoph Wild, said :
“We are particularly concerned about the implications of the tariffs for the gold industry and the physical exchange of gold with the U.S., a long‑standing and historical partner for Switzerland.”
Switzerland is the largest gold refiner on earth, so this is not background noise for traders who hedge with metal.
White House moves to clarify bullion tariff scope and costs
President Donald Trump has a 39% tariff on Swiss exports to the U.S. This week, U.S. Customs and Border Protection clarified that 1‑kilogram and 100‑ounce gold bars are not excluded. The Swiss group added:
“It must be noted that this clarification does not apply exclusively to Switzerland but to all 1kg and 100oz gold cast bars imported into the USA from any country.”
That line matters to anyone planning to lift bars into New York for delivery.
Gold has jumped 31% this year as investors looked for safety during trade and geopolitical stress. A tariff can lift prices further, but it also strains the logistics that keep the global market supplied.
Gold bullion backs contracts on the Comex in New York, and a lot of those bars come from Switzerland. Add a tariff, and clearing a futures position the old way gets pricier.
Joni Teves at UBS spelled it out. “Futures on Comex are often used to hedge positions with the assumption that traders can easily import gold into the United States to physically settle contracts if needed,” she wrote.
“The tariff adds costs to this process, and with the bulk of refining capacity sitting in Switzerland which faces 39% U.S. tariffs, these costs would be quite high. There is still a lot of uncertainty around all this and until there is clarity, we expect the gold market and precious metals markets more generally to remain very nervous.”
Traders price in tariff risk, watch New York–London split
At the New York Stock Exchange on August 8, traders watched Gold pop about 1% and then give it back. That small, brief rise suggested some desks were betting the ruling could still get tweaked.
Rob Haworth at U.S. Bank’s Asset Management Group said, “The market is waiting for more clarity. I think this is a market with significant questions about is this really what was intended?” That sounds right. Nobody wants to carry tariff basis risk into delivery month.
While New York inched up, London was mostly flat. That left a growing New York premium for Gold. Ole Hansen at Saxo Bank said:
“These developments raise serious questions about the ability of the NY futures markets to offer a stable and trustworthy trading environment that offers the best price discovery, one that increasingly appears vulnerable to being hijacked by Trump’s shifting tariff agenda.”
If that premium sticks, flows can reroute, and open interest can migrate. Rob said the same thing in plainer terms: tariffs on gold imports would disrupt how the global trade is set up today.
If foreign sellers must price a 39% hit, New York becomes less attractive for global investors. That would matter for Gold liquidity, for hedgers in mining, and for funds that roll futures against spot bars.
This is not just a Wall Street headache. Gold shows up as coins, as jewelry, as bullion behind futures, and as retail bars sold at Costco. If the import ruling stands as clarified, the cost curve changes across that stack.
A tariff can boost Gold prices at the screen yet squeeze physical throughput. It can also force refiners, shippers, and dealers to redo contracts and routes.
For now, the core facts are simple. The White House says an executive order is coming to straighten the messaging. A U.S. agency has said 1‑kg and 100‑oz bars face tariffs. Gold is up 31% year‑to‑date. New York briefly ran a 1% blip, then cooled.
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