Germany is discussing the possibility of returning a significant part of its gold reserves from a vault in New York due to the unpredictable policies of US President Donald Trump. This was reported the day before by the newspaper “The Telegraph”.
“For decades, Berlin has stored 1,200 tons of its famous gold reserves, the second largest on the planet after the reserves of the United States, in a deep underground vault of the US Federal Reserve in Manhattan,” the report says.
Now officials from the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), which is expected to lead the next German government, are discussing the possibility of removing this gold from New York due to fears that the United States is no longer a reliable partner.
“Of course, this issue has come up again,” said Marco Vanderwitz, a former German government minister who gave up his seat in the Bundestag for the CDU this year.
Markus Ferber, a CDU MEP, said he also favored allowing German officials to personally inspect the gold bars.
“I demand regular inspections of Germany’s gold reserves. Officials from the Bundesbank should personally count the bars and document the results,” he said.
Both politicians spoke to the publication before Donald Trump imposed massive tariffs on EU goods, which may have further strengthened their position.
Germany accumulated gold after World War II thanks to growing exports, which led to a large trade surplus. It was converted into gold within the Bretton Woods monetary system.
The value of Germany’s gold reserves, stored in New York, is estimated at 113 billion euros — about 30% of Germany’s total gold reserves. Frankfurt, Germany, currently holds about half of Germany’s gold reserves. Another 13% is held in London.
Until the strained relationship with the Trump administration, storing gold in the United States was seen as a practical solution, as in the event of a sudden crisis, gold could be exchanged for U.S. dollars, the world’s most important reserve currency.
Michael Jaeger, a representative of the European Taxpayers Association, said it would be better “to return all of Germany’s gold reserves to Frankfurt, or at least to Europe, as quickly as possible.”
The Bundesbank, which the publication contacted for comment on the possibility of moving gold to Frankfurt, said it “has no doubt that the U.S. Federal Reserve in New York is a reliable and safe partner for storing our gold reserves.”
Konstantin Katyshev,
“Correspondent”
