Gold hit an all time high of $3,005 on Friday as investors flooded to safe haven assets as they worry about the geo-political and economic fallout from Donald Trump’s trade policies.

Gold peaked at $3,005 before dipping back to $2,994 by 9:04 am ET. This is a growing trend of investors seeking shelter in gold in times of uncertainty.

Jason Hollands, Managing Director at Evelyn Partners, a UK wealth management company said “gold is the panic asset of choice”. He said the latest surge in gold is due to the “complete chaos in the global trade system” caused by the Trump administration’s unpredictable and aggressive tariffs which have led to retaliation from other countries.

Wednesday the US imposed a 25% tariff on all steel and aluminum imports. Canada and the EU responded with immediate countermeasures and the trade situation got worse on Thursday when Trump threatened to put a 200% tariff on all alcoholic beverages from the EU if they didn’t roll back their 50% tariff on US spirits.

The chaos of the administration’s trade policies has created uncertainty and businesses are holding off on hiring and investment. And that’s scaring people of a global economic downturn.

As well as trade tensions, the conflict in Ukraine has also been driving gold prices up. Viktoria Kuszak, research analyst at Sucden Financial, says Russia’s refusal to accept a 30-day US proposed ceasefire in Ukraine has reignited geopolitical risks. Russian President Vladimir Putin’s comments questioning the US-brokered proposal and demanding concessions from Ukraine have added to the uncertainty in the market.

The ongoing war in Ukraine has had a lasting impact on gold prices, Trevor Greetham, senior investor at Royal London Asset Management, says gold has risen 60% since Russia invaded in 2022. Central banks, including the People’s Bank of China, are increasing their gold reserves as a hedge against the risk of having their foreign reserves seized, a fear that became more relevant since the sanctions on Russia.

Another factor behind the rise in gold prices is the weakening of the US dollar. As gold is priced in dollars, a fall in the dollar makes gold more attractive to international buyers and that’s boosting demand.

In summary, the combination of geopolitical tensions, economic uncertainty from aggressive trade policies and a weakening dollar has created the perfect storm for gold prices and that’s why they are at historic highs and gold is the go to safe haven asset in times of turmoil.