Gold jumps and dollar slides as global trade faces new Trump tariff threat

Trump tariffsAdd to myFTGet instant alerts for this topicManage your delivery channels hereRemove from myFTGold jumps and dollar slides as global trade faces new Trump tariff threatUS president imposes 15% duty after Supreme Court strikes down previous policyThe dollar weakened against a basket of its key trading partners on Monday while gold prices climbed © Dado Ruvic/ReutersGold jumps and dollar slides as global trade faces new Trump tariff threat on x (opens in a new window)Gold jumps and dollar slides as global trade faces new Trump tariff threat on facebook (opens in a new window)Gold jumps and dollar slides as global trade faces new Trump tariff threat on linkedin (opens in a new window)Gold jumps and dollar slides as global trade faces new Trump tariff threat on whatsapp (opens in a new window) Save Gold jumps and dollar slides as global trade faces new Trump tariff threat on x (opens in a new window)Gold jumps and dollar slides as global trade faces new Trump tariff threat on facebook (opens in a new window)Gold jumps and dollar slides as global trade faces new Trump tariff threat on linkedin (opens in a new window)Gold jumps and dollar slides as global trade faces new Trump tariff threat on whatsapp (opens in a new window) Save William Sandlund in San Francisco and Emily Herbert in LondonPublishedFebruary 23 2026UpdatedFebruary 23 2026Jump to comments sectionPrint this pageUnlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.Gold rose and the dollar fell on Monday after Donald Trump deepened uncertainty over global trade by imposing a new 15 per cent tariff following a landmark US Supreme Court ruling that his previous policy was unlawful.The US president responded to Friday’s ruling from America’s top court by announcing a flat-rate tariff on the country’s trading partners, which is set to come into force on Tuesday.The new duty relies on the 1974 Trade Act and will allow Trump to set import restrictions for up to 150 days. In its ruling, the Supreme Court said that the president had exceeded his authority in using emergency powers to impose his “liberation day” tariffs last year.Trump’s launch of his trade war last April convulsed currency, bond and equity markets but stocks, powered by the AI boom, have since recovered to hit record highs. In early London trading on Monday, gold, a haven asset, rose 0.6 per cent to $5,133 a troy ounce while the dollar weakened 0.3 per cent against a basket of its peers.Futures tracking US stocks were pointing to a 0.5 per cent drop for the S&P 500 and a 0.7 per cent fall for the Nasdaq 100. The reaction in European stock markets was more muted, with the Stoxx Europe 600 down 0.3 per cent in early trading. Technology stocks were the worst performing, with the sub-index tracking those stocks falling 0.9 per cent.Yields on 10-year Treasuries, which move inversely to prices, fell 0.01 percentage points to 4.07 per cent. Bitcoin dropped 2.7 per cent to $65,801 a token. “The market is pricing in uncertainty because they don’t know where tariffs are going to land,” said Ecaterina Bigos, chief investment officer for Asia ex-Japan at BNP Paribas Asset Management. Analysts at RBC Capital Markets said that the threat to stocks was mitigated by the fact that the overall effective tariff rate under Trump’s new policy was lower than under the previous regime.“In the short term, current aggregate tariff levels have come down and uncertainty has risen,” they noted.Goldman Sachs analysts also said that the new tariffs slightly reduced the uplift in the effective tariff rate compared with the start of 2025, moving from just over 10 percentage points under the previous tariff regime to 9 percentage points now. The bank said its expectations for US growth and inflation were “little changed” by the new levies.In Asia, equities bounced on Monday as investors welcomed the prospect of lower tariffs for some exporters.Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index led gains, adding 2.4 per cent. Taiwan’s Taiex closed up 0.5 per cent and South Korea’s Kospi climbed 0.7 per cent. Japan’s markets were closed.Markets in mainland China, which would stand to be one of the countries with most to gain from a 15 per cent tariff, were also closed.Morgan Stanley economists said in a report that the new headline tariff rate of 15 per cent would reduce the average weighted levy on Asian goods to 17 per cent from 20 per cent, while those on China would decline to 24 per cent from 32 per cent. While this relief could be “temporary”, with the US expected to impose new levies on some sectors and economies, “it does appear to us that tariffs on Asia have likely peaked”, they said.China’s commerce ministry, in its first official response to the Supreme Court ruling, said on Monday that it opposed unilateral tariffs and was “conducting a comprehensive assessment” of the ruling’s impact.“We have also noted that the US is preparing alternative measures such as trade investigations to maintain its tariffs on trading partners,” the ministry said. “China will closely monitor this and firmly safeguard its interests.”Additional reporting by Joe Leahy in BeijingReuse this content (opens in new window) CommentsJump to comments sectionPromoted Content Follow the topics in this article Trump tariffs Add to myFT Gold Add to myFT US dollar Add to myFT Equities Add to myFT Markets Add to myFT Comments