(Kitco News) – The clarity commodity markets were clamoring for finally arrived in the wake of U.S. President Donald Trump’s sweeping global tariffs on Wednesday evening, as gold, silver, and other metals imports will be exempt from tariffs.
The precious metals, along with steel, aluminum and many other industrial metals, won’t be subject to the Trump administration’s reciprocal tariffs, the White House confirmed.
The list of exemptions includes all base and precious metals, as well as other niche materials and industrial inputs. This means that the previously announced import tariffs on steel, aluminum and copper won’t be compounded by yesterday’s reciprocal blanket tariffs.
Gold and silver prices rallied to multi-session highs during Trump’s press conference on Wednesday afternoon, partly in response to the parallel collapse in equity futures and other risk assets, but also because it was unclear whether or not the precious metals would be exempted.
Once the administration communicated the tariff exemptions, gold, and silver began to give back much of their recent gains.
Spot gold peaked around $3,168 per ounce shortly before 8 pm on Wednesday, but hit a low of $3,054.19 per ounce just before the North American market open.
Spot gold has since turned positive on the session, last trading at $3,135.41 per ounce for a gain of 0.04%.
Silver prices actually peaked during Trump’s tariff announcement, with spot silver shooting to a session high of $34.154 at 4:30 pm EDT. The gray metal sold off throughout the evening, and hit a low of $31.751 around the North American market open on Thursday.
Spot silver last traded at $32.319 for a loss of 4.62% on the daily chart.
Jacob Falkencrone, Global Head of Investment Strategy at investment platform Saxo, noted that U.S. blue-chip stocks were taking a beating in the wake of the tariff announcement.
“Markets, caught off guard by the severity of Trump’s tariffs, reacted dramatically,” he said. “US stock futures plummeted, with the likes of Apple, Amazon, and Nike declining more than 6% as fears intensified that disrupted global supply chains would hit corporate profits. Asian markets mirrored this uncertainty, with Japan's Topix index slumping 3.8%. European stock markets are painted in red as well.”
Falkencrone said that many economists are warning of large negative impacts on the economy. “The tariff offensive marks a significant economic turning point,” he said. “With the US now enforcing what amounts to the steepest trade barriers in a century, the risks are more than just theoretical—they are visible in real time, and they are mounting.”
“The immediate concern is the US economy, where the average effective tariff rate is jumping nearly 19 percentage points,” he noted. “That’s a direct tax on consumption and corporate costs, especially for industries relying on imported materials. The result? Higher prices, tighter margins, weaker growth—and a heightened risk of recession. Economists warn that these tariffs could accelerate the arrival of stagflation, where inflation rises even as the economy stagnates or contracts.”
And the global picture looks just as dire. “China could lose up to 2.4 percentage points of GDP growth, according to recent forecasts, and the ripple effects could hit Europe, Asia, and emerging markets hard,” Falkencrone said. “This isn’t just a US-centric problem—it’s a potential global slowdown in the making.”
