Gold futures in New York surge as tariff confusion sweeps precious metal market

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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 after the Financial Times reported one-kilogram and 100-ounce bars of gold are indeed included in the product list 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 said contracts on the Comex exchange in New York are based on 100-ounce 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 about $100 above London prices 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 kilobars 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.