Silver continues to find firm resistance at $34 an ounce; however, one analyst said the precious metal's time will come, and it could be later this year.

After hitting a new hurdle last week, the silver price remains on the downside, now testing the $33 an ounce support. The precious metal is struggling as President Donald Trump continues to increase uncertainty around his proposed global tariffs. According to some reports, Trump is expected to impose more targeted and less generalized tariffs, which would mitigate the threat of a global trade war.

In an interview with Kitco News, Ole Hansen, head of commodity strategy at Saxo Bank, noted that silver prices have been rising in part due to growing demand in the U.S. as bullion banks flooded New York vaults amid fears that silver could be hit with U.S. tariffs.

Hansen pointed out that these tariff threats benefit gold, copper, silver and platinum group metals. However, he added that this is a very risky and binary negotiation: either the tariffs are applied or not.

"This flip makes it very difficult to navigate these markets in the short term," he said. "I anticipate we will continue to see some price volatility."

Looking ahead to near-term uncertainty, Hansen said silver tariffs are unlikely because the United States relies heavily on imported supply.

Last year, U.S. mines produced more than 1100 tons of silver, but U.S. demand exceeded 5100 tons. Hansen said the U.S. would not be able to increase its domestic production enough to meet demand. Currently, the U.S. imports most of its silver from Mexico, and about 10% of its supply comes from Canada.

Hansen added that the complex tariff uncertainty surrounding copper could also affect silver in the near term. Like silver, the United States does not produce enough copper to meet domestic demand.

"If no tariffs are applied to copper, there will be a lot of selling pressure on the New York futures market because, if this flow continues for a few more months, in the second half of the year we could see more than half of the visible copper stocks relocate to the US," he said. "This market accounts for less than 10% of global demand, which means the rest of the world accounts for the remaining 90%. At some point, the metal will follow real demand."

"I see a similar situation with silver, " he added. "I don't see any conspiracy to push short positions or anything like that. I simply see a market that has responded to a profitable arbitrage operation."

Hansen said that, in the near term, he could see the silver price fall to $31.50 an ounce. He added that he is keeping an eye on the critical long-term support at $32.33 an ounce, but noted that lower prices still represent buying opportunities.

Hansen expects the silver price to exceed $35 an ounce and foresees upside potential to $40 this year. He noted that the significant shortfall in silver supply provides solid support for prices.

"About 55% of the demand for silver is industrial," he said. "And that demand, if anything, continues to increase. Although decarbonization has suddenly become a derogatory word, the electrification of the global economy is still underway and gaining momentum."

At the same time, Hansen said he expects silver to benefit further from the gold rally as prices remain above $3,000 an ounce. Hansen expects the gold price to reach $3,300 an ounce this year.

"If that's the case and we see the gold-silver ratio return to last year's levels, silver could easily reach $40 or more," he said. "But nothing goes in a straight line. Silver is gold on steroids, no doubt. But it also comes at a price: high volatility."

Neils Christensen, Kitco