Aug. 11 (UPI) — President Donald Trump said Monday in a Truth Social post that there will be no tariffs on gold.
The post said: “A Statement from Donald J. Trump, President of the United States of America: Gold will not be tariffed!”
He did not elaborate further.
Gold futures closed 2.48% lower at $3,404.70 per ounce after the announcement, CNBC reported.
The precious metal hit a record high Friday, after U.S. Customs and Border Protection ruled that 1 kilogram and 100 ounce gold bars from Switzerland would face Trump’s 39% tariff against the country.
These gold bars are used to back contracts on The Commodity Exchange, or COMEX. The exchange is the main futures market for gold, silver and other metals.
The ruling would have applied to any country exporting gold bars to the United States, according to the Swiss Precious Metal Association. So gold bars would have been subject to the prevailing U.S. tariff rate against their country of origin.
The Swiss Precious Metal Association warned Friday that the customs ruling “may negatively impact the international flow of physical gold.”
“The imposition of tariffs on these gold cast products makes it economically unviable to export them to the U. S., thereby eliminating any future trade deficit arising from gold exports,” the press release said.