finance.yahoo.com
Gold (GC=F)
futures in New York hit intraday record highs on Friday amid reports
that imports of Swiss gold bars would not be exempt from tariffs.
The precious metal hit $4,490 per ounce on the Comex exchange in New York after the Financial Times reported
one-kilogram and 100-ounce bars of gold are indeed subject to 39%
reciprocal tariffs on Switzerland recently announced by the Trump
administration.
"The move is significant because 1-kilo and
100-ounce gold bars form the backbone of much of the gold trading
activity in the United States," Ryan McIntyre, senior managing partner
at investment manager Sprott, told Yahoo Finance.
McIntyre
highlighted contracts on the Comex with physical delivery requirements
are based in large part by Swiss bars noting "the introduction of
tariffs will likely inject additional uncertainty into that market."
The clarification from Customs and Border Patrol,
also reported by Bloomberg, sent gold futures in New York skyrocketing
as traders assessed the implications on transfers of the precious metals
and how the futures market could be reshaped.
"Likely
imposing 39% tariffs on Swiss kilobars is akin to pouring sand into an
otherwise well functioning engine," wrote Ross Norman, CEO of UK-based
Metals Daily.
Traders are still weighing whether the steep
tariffs on Swiss kilo-bars reflect a real policy shift or a possible
misclassification error.
"On a broader scale,
the gold market is highly liquid and global, meaning we would expect
gold flows to adjust in ways that minimize disruptions," McIntyre said.
Gold inventories in New York skyrocketed earlier this year as institutional investors shipped elevated amounts of physical bars to vaults in Manhattan ahead of tariff announcements.
In late March inventories reached their highest level since the pandemic in 2021, according to Bloomberg data.