Netherlands pulls gold out of the US

荷兰将黄金撤出美国

The Netherlands has moved dozens of tonnes of its gold bullion reserves from the US and Canada. 荷兰已将其数十吨黄金储备从美国和加拿大转移。

The central bank of the Netherlands has moved dozens of tonnes of its gold out of the United States and Canada. 荷兰中央银行（De Nederlandsche Bank，简称 DNB）已将其数十吨黄金从美国和加拿大撤出。

The De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB) said in a statement the removal aimed to boost the country’s “crisis preparedness” amid “increasing geopolitical unrest”. 荷兰央行在一份声明中表示，此举旨在应对“日益加剧的地缘政治动荡”，以提升该国的“危机准备能力”。

Experts say that rhetoric appears inherently related to the abrasiveness of the Trump administration towards traditional allies. 专家表示，这种说法显然与特朗普政府对传统盟友的强硬态度有着内在联系。

Dutch plans golden ‘anchor of trust’

荷兰计划打造黄金“信任之锚”

The DNB said the movement of gold out of North America was aimed to ensure the Netherlands’s reserves were “more readily available for use in a crisis”. 荷兰央行表示，将黄金从北美转移是为了确保荷兰的储备在“危机中能更方便地使用”。

Between March and August this year, 86 tonnes of a total 313 tonnes of gold held in the US and Canada were moved to the Bank of England in central London. 今年3月至8月间，存放在美国和加拿大的总计313吨黄金中，有86吨被转移到了伦敦市中心的英格兰银行。

“Gold that is held with the Bank of England must meet modern international trade standards and is regarded as the world’s most easily tradable gold,” the DNB statement said. 荷兰央行声明称：“存放在英格兰银行的黄金必须符合现代国际贸易标准，被视为全球流动性最强的黄金。”

“[It] will therefore be the most readily available for DNB in a crisis situation.” “因此，在危机情况下，这将是荷兰央行最容易调用的储备。”

The gold reserves held in New York and Ottawa cannot be utilised as quickly and directly in such a situation. 而在这种情况下，存放在纽约和渥太华的黄金储备无法如此迅速、直接地被利用。

The bank also said it was within Dutch interests to have quicker access to the reserves because gold was seen as “an anchor of trust” and “ideally suited to hedge extreme systemic risks”. 该行还表示，能够更快地获取储备符合荷兰的利益，因为黄金被视为“信任之锚”，且“非常适合对冲极端系统性风险”。

DNB governor Olaf Sleijpen said the decision increased the reserves’ economic usability but he did not say why the bank believed the Netherlands needed to increase its crisis preparedness. 荷兰央行行长奥拉夫·斯莱彭（Olaf Sleijpen）表示，这一决定提高了储备的经济可用性，但他并未说明为何该行认为荷兰需要加强危机准备。

“We expect that we will never need to use them, but we do need to strengthen our resilience and preparedness,” he said. 他说：“我们希望永远不需要动用这些储备，但我们确实需要加强自身的韧性和准备工作。”

The Netherlands’s gold reserves totalled 612.4 tonnes, valued at 72.2 billion euros ($116.7 billion) in 2025. 2025年，荷兰的黄金储备总计612.4吨，价值722亿欧元（约合1167亿美元）。

The bars are held in the Dutch town of Zeist, as well as London, the US Federal Reserve in New York City and the Bank of Canada in Ottawa. 这些金条分别存放在荷兰的宰斯特（Zeist）、伦敦、纽约的美国联邦储备银行以及渥太华的加拿大银行。

During the transfer, 59 tonnes of gold held in New York were sold by the DNB, which then bought the same amount of bullion bars in London for storage in the Bank of England. 在转移过程中，荷兰央行出售了存放在纽约的59吨黄金，随后在伦敦购买了等量的金条，存入英格兰银行。

Another 27 tonnes held in the US and Canada were physically shipped to Zeist, and “a similar quantity” then moved to the United Kingdom. 另有27吨存放在美国和加拿大的黄金被实物运回宰斯特，随后“等量黄金”被转移至英国。

The DNB said combining physical shipments with a buy-and-sell process lowered the risks associated with gold relocation and was more cost-effective. 荷兰央行表示，将实物运输与买卖流程相结合，降低了黄金转移的相关风险，且更具成本效益。

“Experience of both approaches will be useful in the event that another relocation is required during a potential future crisis and one of the two approaches proves impossible due to circumstances at the time,” it said. 该行称：“如果未来潜在危机中需要再次转移，而其中一种方式因当时的情况变得不可行，那么这两种方式的经验都将派上用场。”

What is the ‘unrest’?

什么是“动荡”？

Threats made by the Trump administration against traditional allies such as Canada and Greenland appear to be the driving force behind the DNB’s decision said Australia Institute international and security affairs director Dr Emma Shortis. 澳大利亚研究所国际与安全事务主任艾玛·肖蒂斯（Dr Emma Shortis）博士表示，特朗普政府对加拿大和格陵兰岛等传统盟友发出的威胁，似乎是荷兰央行做出这一决定的驱动力。

“Trump has shown himself entirely willing to trash the established norms and rules of international politics,” she said. 她说：“特朗普已表现出完全愿意践踏国际政治既定准则和规则的态度。”

“Having those reserves in the United States is a potential vulnerability.” “将这些储备存放在美国是一个潜在的脆弱点。”

“You can absolutely imagine a scenario where, for whatever reason, the Trump administration decides to hold onto them.” “你完全可以想象这样一种情况：出于某种原因，特朗普政府决定扣留这些黄金。”

Dr Shortis described the removal as “strategic” to protect Dutch resources and said it could reflect rising European concerns about the independence of the US Federal Reserve under Mr Trump. 肖蒂斯博士将此次转移描述为保护荷兰资源的“战略性”举措，并表示这可能反映了欧洲对特朗普治下美国联邦储备委员会独立性的日益担忧。

“That’s absolutely a reflection of the catastrophic loss of trust in the United States in Europe,” she said. 她说：“这绝对反映了欧洲对美国信任的灾难性丧失。”

“We have every reason to think, based on evidence of what the Trump administration has already done, that [it is] entirely willing to use advantages they have, like gold reserves stored in the United States, as weapons against traditional allies.” “基于特朗普政府已经采取的行动，我们完全有理由认为，他们完全愿意利用手中的优势——比如存放在美国的黄金储备——作为对付传统盟友的武器。”

Mr Trump has previously voiced disappointment with the European Union and NATO, implemented harsh tariffs against various European nations and raised the prospect of a US seizure of Greenland. 特朗普此前曾表达过对欧盟和北约的失望，对多个欧洲国家实施了严厉关税，并提出了美国接管格陵兰岛的可能性。

Since the beginning of his second presidential term, he has also pledged to make Canada the “51st state” of America. 自其第二个总统任期开始以来，他还承诺要让加拿大成为美国的“第51个州”。

Dr Shortis acknowledged the impacts of the Russia-Ukraine war, which is ongoing after four years of fighting, may have also influenced the DNB decision. 肖蒂斯博士承认，在经历了四年战斗后仍在持续的俄乌战争所带来的影响，也可能影响了荷兰央行的决定。

What were the economics behind the decision?

这一决定背后的经济逻辑是什么？

Central banks are growing less willing to have their finances held by foreign nations, according to Rabobank senior market strategist Benjamin Picton. 荷兰合作银行（Rabobank）高级市场策略师本杰明·皮克顿（Benjamin Picton）表示，各国央行越来越不愿意将资产存放在外国。

“Gold is a zero-counterparty asset, so if you buy a US Treasury and you hold that as your reserve assets at your central bank your counterparty is the US Federal Reserve or the US Treasury,” he said. 他说：“黄金是一种零对手方资产。如果你购买美国国债并将其作为央行储备资产，那么你的对手方就是美联储或美国财政部。”

“You’re relying on them to make payments. There’s a credit risk associated with that.” “你依赖他们进行支付，这其中存在信用风险。”

He said the DNB move may reflect growing economic sentiment within Europe that opposes the Trump administration’s policies. 他表示，荷兰央行的举动可能反映了欧洲内部日益增长的反对特朗普政府政策的经济情绪。

“There’s more suspicion than there used to be … and that is because the United States is leaning on Europe to do more,” he said. 他说：“现在的怀疑比过去更多……这是因为美国正在向欧洲施压，要求其承担更多责任。”

“We do have this recent context where the United States has developed very sharp elbows when it comes to demands on allies.” “我们确实处于这样一个近期的背景下：美国在对盟友提出要求时，表现得非常强硬。”

“Europe is starting to respond to that by trying to conduct itself more independently.” “欧洲正开始通过努力实现更独立的运作来对此做出回应。”