Gold is now the top U.S. export
Points and comments are a snapshot, not live.
Gold has overtaken oil and aircraft as the top U.S. export by value since October 2025.
U.S. nonmonetary gold exports began topping all other categories almost every month starting October 2025. The majority goes to Switzerland for refining, then to Hong Kong (for China) and the UK. U.S. government gold reserves are reported unchanged, so exports come from current mine output and recycling. The author speculates foreign governments, especially China, are shifting from U.S. Treasuries to gold. China's Treasury holdings fell from $1.096 trillion in April 2021 to $693.3 billion in February 2026, replaced by gold. Switzerland refines U.S. gold into kilogram bars before it reaches China.
What commenters are saying
The dominant reaction is that foreign central banks are moving gold reserves out of the U.S. without physically shipping it, by selling in New York and rebuying in Europe. Commenters note France fully exited New York, the Netherlands roughly halved its stored gold, and Germany moved 111 tonnes in 2016. Some challenge the article's claim that exports come from mine output, pointing to central bank repatriation as a major factor. Others debate whether services like AI tokens count as exports-the consensus is that U.S. export statistics traditionally refer to goods only.