On May 13, 2026, gold and silver sold off as the U.S.-China tariff truce ignited risk appetite, strengthened the dollar, and pressured the physical precious metals market. Gold spot price is trading at $4,704.25 per ounce, down $38.70 (-0.82%) on the day. Silver spot price is trading at $85.44 per ounce, down $0.94 (-1.09%) on the day. The daily precious metals market report for May 13 finds the gold/silver ratio at 55.06, sharply compressed from its May 7 peak of 62. Silver surged over 7% when the 90-day tariff truce slashed U.S. duties on Chinese imports from 145% to 30%, reflecting the metal’s outsized sensitivity to industrial demand shifts. Physical dealers report steady buying on this dip, with today’s gold spot price and the silver spot price today both drawing investors anchored to the inflation narrative rather than short-term trade headlines. That narrative hardened Tuesday: U.S. April CPI accelerated to 3.8% — its highest reading since May 2023 and above the 3.7% consensus — while core inflation printed at 2.8%, both figures topping forecasts. Federal Reserve futures now price out rate cuts through year-end 2026 and assign over 70% probability of a rate hike by April 2027. That outlook sustains the structural inflation case that has driven physical gold and silver demand throughout this cycle.
The Silver Institute’s World Silver Survey 2026, published in April 2026, projects the silver market will record its sixth consecutive annual supply deficit — a shortfall of 67 million ounces. The Silver Institute forecasts physical investment demand to rise 20% to a three-year high of 227 million ounces. The insight 95% of analysts miss is more consequential: approximately 60% of global silver consumption goes to industrial applications — photovoltaics, electric vehicle battery contacts, AI data center semiconductors, and advanced electronics manufacturing. The majority of that supply chain flows through China. When Washington and Beijing announced the 90-day tariff truce on May 10-11, slashing U.S. import duties from 145% to 30%, silver’s industrial demand outlook repriced immediately. Futures traders compressed the gold/silver ratio from 62 to below 55 in a single week. But the physical market implication stretches far beyond the futures trade. Chinese manufacturers that had been deferring silver procurement under the tariff regime — drawing down stockpiles, scaling back orders, and delaying expansion — can now resume full purchase cycles without the 145% cost penalty. That demand re-entry adds acute structural pressure on a supply base already running five consecutive years in deficit. Critically, the Silver Institute’s 67-million-ounce shortfall was modeled before the tariff resolution; the actual 2026 deficit could prove materially wider as Chinese industrial demand returns. Physical silver investors, jewelers, and industrial buyers face a direct message: the tariff truce accelerates a structural supply squeeze already under way — one that has historically preceded sharp price advances in the physical market. Explore silver coins and bullion at USAGOLD to build physical holdings now, before the next wave of industrial procurement tightens available inventory.
