Germany Wants its U.S. Gold

Facing rising U.S. tariffs and the threat of even higher levies, Germany may soon demand to take home the massive cache of gold it stores in the United States. Senior leaders of the incoming governing party, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), have had serious discussions about repatriating the country’s gold due to concerns that the U.S. is no longer a reliable partner, according to Germany’s Bild newspaper.

“I demand regular checks of Germany’s gold reserves. Official representatives of the Bundesbank must personally count the bars and document their results,” said Markus Ferber, a CDU member of the European Parliament, according to Bild.

Germany owns massive gold reserves, second only to the United States in sovereign holdings. For years, Germany has stored 1,200 metric tons of gold, about 30 percent of its holdings, in the vaults of the New York Federal Reserve in Lower Manhattan, just blocks from the New York Stock Exchange. But now, after the tariffs fray and sharp criticism of European nations from President Trump, CDU politicians say they want their gold at home.

Marco Wanderwitz, a former CDU government minister has argued for years that Germany officials should have the right to inspect the gold or else pull it from the Federal Reserve Bank. His request to visit the New York Fed’s vaults was rejected more than a decade ago.

While the new governing party may demand repatriation of Germany’s gold, the Deutsche Bundesbank, Germany’s central bank, says it has “absolutely no doubt that in the Federal Reserve in New York we have a trustworthy, reliable partner in the storage of gold reserves.”