New York’s famous Diamond District was overflowing last week. However, the subject of many of the hearts of the city’s gem districts was gold, not diamonds.

Covid, Ukraine and now, the trade war between Donald Trump is all sparking new interest in gold.

At West 47th Street, GT survey gold trader Becky Algozhoeva showed coins and ingots engraved on its customers with the Roman goddess Fortuna, also known as “Lady Fortuna.”

“Normal people think gold is the key. They don’t believe in banks anymore because economics is unstable and they don’t want to invest in institutions. They want to have it under the pillow. And gold won’t get any worse. It’s not milk, right?”

Gold prices have risen by more than 20% since Trump’s election in November and 95% over the past five years. Gold prices fell from a one-ounce set record last month at $3,500. This is part of the prediction that Trump will take down more trade tensions. However, Gold Bugs love uncertainty and it seems likely that it will come.

Algozhoeva said all mentions of gold by the media, Instagram and Tiktok government officials contributed to the return of the “only currency universally recognized.”

Over the first few months of the year, US demand had become so strong that traders began sending 400 ounces of gold bars from London’s vault to Switzerland. There they were converted into kilobars and sent to the US in a commercial airliner hold.

“It was unprecedented,” says Philip Newman, managing director of Precious Metals Consultancy Metals Focus. “We saw some rise during Covid, but this was more structural and long-term.”

As a result, US gold stocks have doubled, with over 20m, or about 600 tons of shipment in New York City safes. In February, JPMorgan alone said it plans to deliver $4 billion in the US, according to a filing by the US Comex Exchange.

After the disappointing US economic growth numbers last month, some economists said an unusually large amount of non-monetary gold (battery, gold coins, unquarried gold, semi-manufactured gold, gold scraps) accounted for some jumps in imports.

From the beginning of April, the markets quieted when it became clear that the US would not be tariffs on gold and silver. But I don’t feel like that is the case. “There is uncertainty about what Trump will do tomorrow, and that uncertainty is ongoing,” Newman says.

The 2024 Gold Rush could be measured deeper than Trump’s US-led trade war and its attempt to offset concerns about the global economy and rising debt levels. The central bank has been purchasing gold to diversify twice as much gold as 1,000 tonnes a year in the past decade since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

In the final quarter of 2024 when Trump won the US election, the World Gold Council (WGC) estimates that central bank purchases accelerated to 54% year-on-year to 333 tons.

Bank of America’s merchandise strategist Michael Widmer told Reuters that the central bank should increase its reserves by 11,000 tonnes. “Currently, emerging market central banks hold about 10% of their assets in gold,” he said. “They should really hold 30% of their assets in gold.”

At the same time, it’s not just central banks and commercial banks that are buying more money. Consumers purchased 13% less gold jewelry, but in 2024 it increased its bar and coin purchases from 3% to 325 tonnes. whole. According to WSG, the first quarter of 2025 was the second-strongest record of influx of Global Gold Exchange Trading Funds (ETFs) as investors poured $21 billion into gold-owned investment vehicles during the first three months of the year.

Earlier this month, Wells Fargo estimated retailer Costco was making a month between $100 million and $20 million by selling gold sticks. The company began selling a one-ounce bar last year, made for around $2,000 at a nearly pure 24 carat gold price. In October, Costco’s Chief Financial Officer Richard Garanty told investors: “They usually went within a few hours.”

Despite the recent decline in gold prices, many people don’t end their gold fever anytime soon. Deutsche Bank expects Bullion to reach $3,700 per ounce by next year, and billionaire investor John Paulson told Reuters that central bank gold purchases and global trade tensions are likely to boost bullion prices of nearly $5,000 by 2028.

Paulson’s Fund’s Paulson & Co reportedly won $3.7 billion in bets in 2007, which ended with the collapse of the subprime mortgage boom. Paulson & Co is already the largest shareholder of Perpetua Goldmine in Idaho and bought $800 million, or 40%, of Barrick’s Novagold’s Donlin Gold project earlier this month.

“I think gold will increase our global position as central banks and people are trying to put money into a more stable source,” Paulson told Reuters. He said the Western confiscation of Russia’s foreign reserve holdings is because Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine is a catalyst for the world’s central banks, particularly China, to load into gold.

“When the war began, (Russia) maintained physical gold, which was safe, but all their cash – the paper reserves – was confiscated,” Paulson said. “So the other central banks woke up and said, “What if there was a conflict with the US? Will the US maintain our Treasury Department and all of our savings go away?”

However, as an asset where gold metal’s long historical records are desirable, gold fever has surpassed Costco’s survivalists, central banks and money managers.

“That’s the only thing you can trust, right?” He started off with Konstantin “Gino” Popolis, manager of Green Diamond Buyers. “That’s the only thing you can prove that you have assets. There’s nothing else. There’s no more digital, AI, bubbles, or shortages. With money, you have evidence.”

Nissan is closing seven factories that have lost 20,000 jobs worldwide after a turbulent year for Japanese automakers.

If production is reduced, Nissan will cut jobs by 11,000 more after it was announced that it would unemployed in November, resulting in a collective 15% reduction in its workforce. This decision will affect the work of staff and contractors across manufacturing, sales, management, and research and development.

Nissan had not said which factories were scheduled for closing. However, the factory in Sunderland, northeastern England, is the only factory in Europe and employs 6,000 people, so it is not considered likely to be closure.

Shakeup aims to reduce the number of factories from 17 to 10 by 2027, saving a total of 500 million yen (£2.6 billion). Nissan will also overhaul its supply chain and source more parts from fewer suppliers to save money.

The company’s new CEO, Ivan Espinosa, faces the difficult task of turning a car manufacturer whose value of the brand they once fought on is eroding. He told the press conference.

“In the face of rising variable costs worsened by the full year performance of 2024 and the uncertainty environment, we aim to prioritize self-improvement and volume-dependent profitability,” he said.

“As a new executive, we are taking a sensible approach to reassessing our goals and actively seeking every possible opportunity to implement and secure a robust recovery.”

Nissan suffered a net loss of 607.1 billion yen per year by the end of March, as it was hit by weaker US and China sales as well as the early effects of Donald Trump’s trade war. Discussing the $600 billion merger with Honda, Espinosa took over as chief executive last month.

The company said it aims to reduce the average cost of the workforce by 20% by “rationalizing global R&D facilities and assigning work to competitive locations.”

Nissan’s supplier AESC, which operates the UK’s only operational GigaFactory, has secured funding for Sunderland’s new electric vehicle battery plant in a government-supported deal that secures the future of key projects for the struggling UK auto industry.

The 90-day suspension in the US-China tariff war has been carefully welcomed in China, but tensions remain high, and Xi Jinping has once again accused the US of “bullying.”

After two days of talks between Geneva officials over the weekend, China and the US agreed that the high tariffs each imposed on the other in a fierce trade war would drop significantly for the next 90 days.

Under the contract, the US obligations for Chinese products will be reduced from 145% to 30%, while the US import duties in China will be reduced from 125% to 10%. China has also lifted the ban on airlines delivering Boeing planes, Bloomberg reported Tuesday.

Donald Trump welcomed the talks as a “complete reset” of bilateral relations, but China’s response revealed that Beijing was still angry and even then denounced the US for causing economic disruption.

When meeting Latin American leaders in Beijing on Tuesday, XI said “there are no winners in the tariff war or trade war.”

“Bullying and hegemony only lead to self-valuation,” he added in relation to the US.

On Tuesday afternoon, China’s foreign ministry continued to condemn “irrational” tariffs, urging the US to “stopping and halting responsibility” for the fentanyl crisis on China.

The 10% and 30% imbalance under the agreement is because the US maintains a 20% tariff on accusations that China has turned a blind eye to exporting chemicals used to make fentanyl.

Chinese officials have repeatedly said that Beijing is opposed to all tariffs and does not want to take part in a mutually destructive trade war, but is willing to “fight to the end.”

An English editor, published throughout the title of state media on Tuesday, said the consultation was marked “an important step in resolving the differences.” It said that China’s approach was consistently constructive and welcomed the US “willingness to engage in that process.”

“We are pleased to see the dialogue resumed, but we are also fully prepared for the long-term, complicated and laborious nature of resolving differences between the two countries,” it said.

The tariff war has an unusual impact on Chinese traders and manufacturers, with the suspension halted and an estimated 16 million jobs at risk.

China is now joining dozens of other countries and waiting to see if it can reach an agreement with the US to not resume crushing tariffs. On Monday, ministries of China’s Ministry of Commerce held discussions with foreign trade representatives about navigating for the next three months and weathering the tariff shock.

Bao, an assistant general manager at Ningbo Foreign Trade Company, said 30% of exports went to the US and he was cautiously optimistic about the 90-day suspension.

“It’s hard to say what will happen in 90 days, because I don’t know,” Bao told the Guardian. “We may now see a higher good shipment volume as everyone might want to hurry up with the item (end of the 90 days) ahead.”

Chinese business media outlet Caixin reported that some companies have already shifted their focus from the US to domestic or other Asian markets.

Opinions were divided on Chinese social media, where contract debates have involved more than 500 million.

Hu Xijin, former editor of nationalist Chinese tabloid The Global Times, described the agreement as “a great victory for China in favor of the principles of equality and mutual respect.”

One reader commenting on the paper’s report said, “Permanence is a victory!”

Others were more cynical about “victory.” “Oh, did you win again?” one person said in Wybo. “Stock index responds like we just lose.”

On Chinese Instagram, Xiaohongshu, users likened the pause by “change ventilators for dying patients.” “He can breathe, but he is far from not being able to walk actively,” they wrote.

Other commenters compared the US to the boy who screamed wolves and wanted to “break the promise over and over.” “Economically, this is a kind of ceasefire.”

Additional research by Lillian City.