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Trump says 'gold will not be tariffed' after US customs notified levies on bars
US President Donald Trump has said that additional tariffs will not be applicable to gold imports, clearing the air on whether recent hikes applied to certain gold bars.
Trump's remarks followed the release of a letter by US customs authorities stating that gold bars totalling 2.8 kg, in two standard weights, should be subject to import duties.
In a post on TruthSocial, Trump said, 'Gold will not be Tariffed!' without providing any further details. The US customs letter, made public last week in a Financial Times report, sent gold prices to a record high.
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Last week, a White House official told AFP that the Trump administration plans to 'issue an executive order in the near future clarifying misinformation about the tariffing of gold bars and other speciality products.'
The concern is whether gold products will be excluded from Trump's 'reciprocal' tariffs, which affect goods from numerous countries, including Switzerland, facing a 39 per cent duty.
Following Trump's recent announcement, Gold prices fell on Monday while investors awaited a US inflation report that could provide an indication of the Federal Reserve's rate outlook.
US gold futures for December delivery settled 2.5 per cent lower at $3,404.70 an ounce. Prices hit a record high on Friday after reports that Washington may place the most widely traded gold bullion bars in the US under country-specific import tariffs.
China tariffs halted
Hours before a trade truce between Washington and Beijing was set to expire, Trump on Monday signed an order postponing the reimposition of higher tariffs on Chinese imports, according to multiple US media reports. The tariff freeze will now remain in effect for an additional 90 days.
A tariff truce between the US and China was set to expire on August 12, though the Trump administration had signalled the deadline could be extended.
Without an extension, the US tariffs on Chinese goods would have surged to 145 per cent, while Chinese tariffs on American products could have reached 125 per cent.
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