A dramatic gold rush is unfolding beneath the streets of London, as hundreds of tonnes of precious metal stored in the Bank of England’s vaults are being hastily shipped to the United States. This mass movement of bullion, spurred by fears of a looming trade war under former President Donald Trump, has led to what’s being described as the “biggest trans-Atlantic movement of physical gold bars in years.”
The global gold market has been thrown into turmoil following Trump’s threatened trade tariffs. Traders, concerned that tariffs could soon be imposed on gold, are scrambling to get their holdings into the U.S. before the potential imposition of these duties. As a result, the price of physical gold in London has fallen, while the price of gold futures in New York has soared, creating a rare arbitrage opportunity for traders to profit from the price discrepancy by moving gold across the Atlantic.
Gold futures in New York have surged by 11% this year, peaking at US$2,935 an ounce, while the price of physical gold in London has dropped. This price gap has triggered a flurry of activity at the Bank of England, which serves as one of the world’s largest depositories for gold. Deputy Governor Sir Dave Ramsden confirmed that the bank has been overwhelmed by requests for gold withdrawals, with wait times stretching from a few days to four to eight weeks.
“Gold is a physical asset, so there are real logistical constraints and security constraints,” Ramsden noted, explaining the complexity of moving the gold. He also humorously remarked that navigating through the bank’s bullion yard had become more difficult due to the heightened activity.
The logistics of transporting gold have become a challenge in their own right. The bullion is transported by high-security vans to London airports before being sent to Swiss refiners to be recast into bars of the appropriate size for the Comex commodity exchange in New York. Once refined, the gold is often loaded into the cargo holds of commercial passenger flights, the safest and most economical option for shipping the precious metal across the Atlantic.
Since Trump’s election in 2016, around 393 metric tonnes of gold have been moved to the Comex vaults in New York, a 75% increase in inventory. Some market participants believe the actual amount being moved to the U.S. is even higher, with shipments likely also heading to private vaults owned by major players like JPMorgan and HSBC.
The bullish sentiment surrounding gold is further fueled by forecasts of higher prices in the coming years. Goldman Sachs has raised its 2025 price target for gold to US$3,100 an ounce, while UBS now projects prices could exceed US$3,200.
As gold flows from London to New York, it’s clear that the precious metal market is undergoing a major shift, driven by both geopolitical uncertainty and the search for profit amid price disparities. For traders, this gold rush is not just about securing assets, but capitalizing on an opportunity that may not come again soon.
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