COMEX gold surges to fresh record high on Wednesday morning in Asia as investors flock to the safe haven commodity amid escalating US-China trade tensions and growing optimism of near term Federal rate cut. US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer reportedly said on Tuesday that the US President Donald Trump could slap China with 100% tariffs on November 1 or sooner, depending on Beijing’s next action in a dispute over rare earths. Also, the US and China are likely to begin charging additional port fees on ocean shipping companies on Tuesday, affecting everything from holiday toys to crude oil, turning the high seas into a critical battlefield in the world's two largest economies' trade war. The US is scheduled to start collecting fees on October 14. Currently, the yellow metal is quoting at $42024.60 an ounce, up 1% on the day.