Gold futures hit a record high on Friday after a report found Thursday that U.S. tariffs will impact imported gold bars, threatening Switzerland’s market.
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December U.S. gold futures hit $3,534 after the news broke before falling to $3,492.70, still up by around 1%, as of 11:07 a.m. ET on Friday.
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The report found that one-kilo and 100-ounce gold bars will be subject to trade taxes, according to a ruling letter dated July 31 from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency that was seen by the Financial Times.
The agency’s ruling letters clarify U.S. policies for importers. In this case, a Swiss refinery formally requested further information on trade taxes for gold from the agency, the FT said.
CBP said it’s deferring to the White House on the matter after Quartz reached out for comment. The White House did not immediately respond to Quartz’s request for further comment.
The agency’s ruling jeopardizes Switzerland’s gold bar market, as gold is one of the country’s largest exports to the U.S., the FT reported based on agency data, and one-kilo bars make up the majority of those exports.
President Donald Trump slammed Switzerland with a 39% tax on imports, the third highest out of the nearly 70 countries hit by new U.S. tariffs. The country’s new tariff rate went into effect Thursday.
“The prevailing view was that precious metals remelted by Swiss refineries and exported to the U.S. could be shipped tariff-free,” Christoph Wild, president of the Swiss Association of Manufacturers and Traders of Precious Metals, told the FT. “However the custom code classification for different gold products is not always precise.”