London is facing a gold shortage after traders pulled out billions in bullion from the vaults of the Bank of England and stockpiled them in New York amid fears that Donald Trump will slap fresh tariffs on the shiny commodity, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday.
The British newspaper said that traders have amassed an $82 billion stockpile in New York in recent weeks.
The report, quoting people familiar with the matter, added that the apparent rush to pull gold out from the UK had left them facing a four-to-eight week delay in recovering their investment.
“People can’t get their hands on gold because so much has been shipped to New York, and the rest is stuck in the queue,” one industry executive was quoted as saying. “Liquidity in the London market has been diminished.”
The Bank of England declined to comment.
Data cited by the FT said that traders had shipped nearly 400 metric tonnes into the vaults of New York’s Comex commodity exchange.
It has driven up the amount held there to 926 tonnes, which is the highest level since August 2022.
Total gold flows into the US could be far higher, the FT said citing sources, because there have been shipments to private vaults owned by HSBC and JPMorgan.
“There is a feeling that Trump could go across the board and impose new tariffs on raw materials coming into the US, including gold,” Michael Haigh, head of commodities research at Société Générale, told the newspaper. “”
“There is a bit of a scramble among participants in the gold market to protect themselves,” he added.
Trump has yet to spell out his trade policy and has not specifically mentioned a duty on bullion, although he has threatened to impose wide-ranging tariffs on US imports.
Gold prices have risen 5% since the start of the year, and are just $30 shy of their all-time record of $2,790 per troy ounce set in October.