Thousands of gold bars seized from Bank of England

Thousands of gold bars have been withdrawn from the vaults of the Bank of England from the end of 2024 amid fears of the consequences of US President Donald Trump's trade war.

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10 February 2025

EghtesadOnline: Dave Ramsden, deputy governor of the Bank, said that the organization has received many requests from traders after gold prices on the futures market in New York sharply exceeded the cash price in London, the Telegraph reported.

In addition, he noted that the wait to withdraw bullion held in vaults had increased from a few days to several weeks. Ramsden said that traders are also concerned that the US president will impose new duties on bullion as part of his trade war.

The bank holds more than 400,000 gold bars, mostly on behalf of other banks and gold traders. UK gold reserves are also held at the Bank on behalf of the Treasury.

On the eve, the head of the European Commission (EC) Ursula von der Leyen said that the European Union (EU) intends to defend its interests in relations with Washington and will maintain a firm retaliatory position in case of the decision of the United States to unfairly impose duties on goods from Europe. According to her, the US-EU trade profits are €1.5 trillion and jobs in both the EU and America depend on it. At the same time, she pointed out that the U.S. and the EU have not yet negotiated on duties, as there was no signal from Washington to Brussels.

Prior to that, on February 5, the Financial Times (FT) noted that in the case of the introduction of duties by the U.S. in the European Union may be split on the issue of retaliatory measures. The publication noted that the EU is preparing for a potential trade war with US President Donald Trump.

The US President signed an executive order on February 1 to impose trade tariffs of 25% on goods from Canada, China and Mexico. Then he also promised to impose duties on goods from the EU. With this decision, Trump seeks to reduce the flow of the opioid fentanyl across the border, as well as the flow of migrants. / Mehr