The top U.S. export in the last few months has not been oil, or AI, or any other headline-grabbing product, but rather gold. The oldest store of value, export value, has surged, shifting the composition of exports and raising questions about the ultimate destination of the metal.
The surge in exports, arguably, reflects the weakening confidence in traditional financial systems toward the safety of the oldest monetary metal. Investors and institutions, including central banks, increasingly favor physical gold over paper assets, moving large quantities of metal out of American vaults.
Record Export Growth and Price Dynamics
The scale of the movement is historic. In February alone, U.S. gold exports reached $17.88 billion, the highest monthly total recorded in at least two decades and likely the highest ever.
Precious metals accounted for roughly 12.7% of all U.S. exports during the first two months of 2026, nearly triple the historical norm of around 4.5%.
The acceleration has been so sharp that just the first two months of 2026 generated more gold export value than nearly every previous full-year total on record. By February, precious metals had climbed ahead of energy, agriculture, airplanes, and automotive products.
High prices are only part of the explanation. Gold had its strongest annual performance since 1979 last year as investors sought protection from political instability, inflation concerns, and financial volatility.
Although gold prices have fallen more than 15% since their late-January peak, export values continue climbing because physical shipments remain exceptionally high.
According to Forbes, the actual tonnage of gold leaving the United States in February was the second-highest monthly total since recordkeeping began in 2003. Three of the largest export months by both value and volume have occurred in the last five months, showing that the trend is driven not just by rising prices but by a massive increase in physical movement.
A Mixed Bag For Physical ETFs
Physical ETFs – the most convenient investment vehicles for investors wanting to avoid storing the metal- saw large outflows. Data from ETF.com shows that SPDR Gold Shares (NYSE:GLD) saw $5.1 billion in outflows year-to-date as of April 30, while iShares Gold Trust (NYSE:IAU) saw $1.83 billion in outflows.
However, not everyone is in the red. Lower-cost funds did better, as SPDR Gold MiniShares (NYSE:GLDM) had net inflows of $4.1 billion year-to-date, while iShares Gold Trust Micro (NYSE:IAUM) gathered net $838 million in new capital.
Repatriation, Refining, and Geopolitics
Most of this gold is departing through New York’s JFK International Airport, which handles more than 85% of U.S. gold exports. The shipments are primarily headed to Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and Hong Kong.
Switzerland plays a key role in the precious metals supply chain. It is a global transshipment hub and an important refining center where large 12.4-kilogram bars become smaller 100-ounce bars favored by investors and central banks.
Central banks have increasingly favored gold, which has recently overtaken U.S. Treasuries as the largest reserve asset. The shift has accelerated following the Russian asset freeze at the start of the war in Ukraine. Seizing of those assets has changed how many nations view reserve security and custody risk.
At the same time, ongoing conflicts involving Iran, Ukraine, and Gaza, combined with tariff uncertainty and interest-rate volatility in the United States, have intensified demand for hard assets – a trend analysts see continuing.
Image via Shutterstock
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