Gold’s attraction for use in everyday life is essentially timeless, with historians tracing the use of gold coins as far back as 550 B.C. in what is known today as Turkey.
Gold has traded constantly and unspectacularly for the past decade, but approaching tariffs and trade sanctions have pushed gold out of the gloominess and into the public eye. Following Presidents Trump’s promise to impose tariffs on imports, Russia has sold a whopping $81 billion in Treasuries. In 2010, Russia was among the top 10 holders of treasuries at $176 billion.
Meanwhile, Russia’s gold holdings have been steadily increasing, bringing its share of the precious metal to its highest level in two decades. Russians hoarding of gold has been considered as an attempt to devalue the U.S dollar as the dominating global currency. China is another county that would like to see the U.S dollar expelled on the global financial market. It is speculated that both countries are considering a gold backed currency as a hedge against the U.S. dollar. While currency will seesaw, precious metals such as gold have always been stable amid times of economic upheaval.
If a trade war was forthcoming, the likely scenario is that everyone will lose. All global currencies will be affected but the countries that are best stocked with gold will best survive.