US Customs and “Border Protection”: Clueless on Gold?

In less than 48 hours, prices surged to fresh records after a surprise US customs ruling implied that one-kilogram and 100-ounce bars (the most traded globally) would be hit with steep import tariffs, only for the White House to signal an executive order “clarifying” the policy and calming markets. Futures spiked as high as about US$3,534 per ounce before retracing, leaving traders highly profitable or burned.

What triggered the action was a July letter from US Customs and Border Protection that reclassified those bars under a tariffable code. Because Switzerland is the world’s refining hub and the biggest source of those cast bars into New York, markets instantly priced in a disruption to physical flows and delivery. This caused an explosion in the premium for COMEX futures over London spot. That mechanical squeeze helped launch prices to record territory.

Then came the reversal. After the market chaos, the administration said it would issue an executive order to “clarify misinformation” around bullion tariffs. That effectively reversed the practical effect of the customs interpretation and realigned policy with earlier guidance that exempted bullion.

Why Tariff Gold?

This is the moment for an “I told you so.” Tariffing gold is self-defeating. It discourages metal from entering the US precisely when every serious jurisdiction wants to hold or control more physical, even if the title belongs to someone else. The customs move threatened to starve New York of standard delivery bars, fracture price discovery, and push trade toward friendlier hubs. This is exactly the opposite of what you’d want if you care about liquidity and credibility of US markets. The rush to "clarify" only highlights that reality.

For investors, the episode is a reminder that policy uncertainty is now part of the gold risk premium. This also puts the focus on physical bullion and reminds investors of the fear of not actually being able to get their bullion.

What to watch next is the exact wording of the upcoming executive order. Any guidance from major refiners and vaults on shipments to the US should provide insight as well. It would be interesting to uncover if this was purposefully done as a series of steps to help reshape the global gold market, or if this was truly just incompetence.