Gold Eases After Surging Past $4,000 an Ounce Following Trump’s China Tariff Warning

Gold prices eased slightly on Friday after briefly surpassing the $4,000-per-ounce mark for the second time this week, as investors turned to safe-haven assets following U.S. President Donald Trump’s renewed tariff threat against China.

By 1:40 p.m. Eastern Time (1740 GMT), spot gold was up 0.4% at $3,989.49 per ounce, marking a 2.7% rise for the week. U.S. gold futures for December delivery settled 0.7% higher at $4,000.40.

Earlier, Trump said there was “no reason” to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping as planned in South Korea in two weeks, adding in a Truth Social post that Washington was preparing to sharply increase tariffs on Chinese imports.

Following his remarks, gold briefly jumped past $4,000 per ounce, hitting an intraday high of $4,022.52.

“Renewed trade war tensions would weaken the dollar and bolster safe-haven demand,” said independent metals trader Tai Wong.

The U.S. dollar index (.DXY) slipped 0.5%, making dollar-priced gold cheaper for overseas buyers.

Markets also kept a close eye on political uncertainty in France and risks linked to the ongoing U.S. government shutdown.

Investors expect the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates by 25 basis points each in October and December.

Non-yielding gold, which hit a record high of $4,059.05 on Wednesday, is traditionally seen as a refuge during times of heightened uncertainty.

Geopolitical risks, strong central bank purchases, inflows into exchange-traded funds, expectations of U.S. rate cuts, and economic uncertainty stemming from tariff tensions have all contributed to gold’s strong rally.

Hamad Hussain, climate and commodities economist at Capital Economics, noted, “Given how quickly gold prices have risen in recent weeks, there is some short-term downside risk. But over the next few years, prices are likely to climb further.”

Silver has also benefited from the same bullish drivers—concerns over supply constraints and rising demand.

After touching a record high of $51.22 a day earlier, silver gained 2.1% to $50.13 per ounce, up more than 73% so far this year. On COMEX, December 2025 silver futures were trading at $47.32.

“Silver’s backwardation is a clear signal — physical demand is crushing paper supply,” said Alex Ebkarian, COO of Allegiance Gold. “If backwardation persists and physical demand continues to rise, silver holding above $50 looks very realistic.”

Backwardation occurs when the spot price of a commodity trades above its futures price.

Among other precious metals, platinum fell 1.4% to $1,596.55, posting a weekly decline, while palladium slipped 0.3% to $1,406.87 but was still up more than 12.6% for the week.