LONDON (Reuters) -Washington may subject the most widely traded gold bullion bars in the United States to country specific import tariffs, according to a ruling on the U.S. Customs and Border Protection service’s website on Friday.
The Financial Times earlier reported the news, citing a letter from the CBP, which sent gold futures to a record high.
Imposing a country-specific tariff on gold deliveries to the U.S. would be a major blow to the global gold supply chain.
The ruling was the service’s reply from July 31 in regard to cast gold bars from Switzerland, the world’s biggest bullion refining and transit hub.
The CBP said that the correct HS customs code to use when supplying gold kilo bullion bars and 100 troy ounce bullion bars, the most traded sizes in the U.S. futures market, to the U.S. would be 7108.13.5500 and not 7108.12.10.
The CBP’s stance on these HS codes, both relating to gold products, is significant for the gold industry because Washington included only the HS code 7108.12.10 in the list of products excluded from its country-specific import tariffs in April.
The other code – 7108.13.5500 – was not on the April exclusions list.
Switzerland is currently subject to U.S. import tariffs of 39%.
“The tariffs and additional duties cited above are current as of this ruling’s issuance. Duty rates are provided for your convenience and are subject to change,” the CBP said in the ruling.
(Reporting by Polina Devitt; Editing by Louise Heavens and Sharon Singleton)
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