Bullion Exempt from Trump’s 10% Tariff on All Countries

The National Coin & Bullion Association (NCBA) is pleased to announce a significant victory for the numismatic and bullion community: gold, silver, platinum, and palladium are exempt from the 10% baseline tariff on imports from all countries, set to take effect April 5, 2025, at 12:01 a.m. EDT. This development, confirmed in the White House fact sheet titled “President Donald J. Trump Declares National Emergency to Increase our Competitive Edge, Protect our Sovereignty, and Strengthen our National and Economic Security,” released on April 2, 2025, ensures that precious metals remain tariff-free under President Trump’s sweeping trade policy enacted via the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). 

The 10% tariff, part of a broader strategy to address trade deficits and nonreciprocal trade practices, applies to broad categories of imports from all countries but explicitly excludes bullion among other critical goods like steel, aluminum, and copper. In trade terminology, “bullion” encompasses gold, silver, platinum, and palladium in forms such as coins, bars, and ingots. Gold’s exemption is unequivocal, and NCBA and other industry experts interpret the inclusion of silver, platinum, and palladium under this category in general parlance as a near-certain safeguard for these metals as well—a stance echoed by market reactions, with premiums for platinum and palladium already dropping in response. 

The White House announcement also outlines higher reciprocal tariffs (11% to 50%) targeting specific countries starting April 9, 2025, but the bullion exemption holds firm across both tariff tiers. This recognizes that the U.S. relies heavily on imported precious metals and that charging tariffs on bullion would be counterproductive to the policy’s goals.