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Tariff revenue falls far short of Trump's wildly inflated claims
Trump has repeatedly claimed that the U.S. was collecting $2 billion per day from tariffs. His own administration’s data proves otherwise.
https://bsky.app/profile/robcrumpton.bsky.social/post/3ln2246hjyk26
Link to tweet
https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/tariff-revenue-falls-far-short-trumps-wildly-inflated-claims-rcna201713
Donald Trump used his social media platform on Tuesday to share some seemingly good news. “The United States is taking in RECORD NUMBERS in Tariffs,” the president wrote.
That certainly sounded encouraging, at least until evidence got in the way. CNBC reported the day after the Republican’s online boast:
The report went on to note that while Trump has repeatedly claimed that the United States was collecting $2 billion per day from tariffs, “the most recent data released Monday by the Treasury Department shows the department’s daily statement of total deposits listed under ‘Customs and Certain Excise Taxes’ as $305 million. All tariffs are collected by U.S. Customs at the point of entry.”.....
As recently as a few days ago, Trump sat down with Fox News and claimed, in apparent seriousness, that there’s a “real chance” that tariffs would generate so much revenue that the United States would no longer need income taxes.
This idea, which he’s peddled before, has always been bananas. In fact, “It is literally impossible for tariffs to fully replace income taxes,” as Kimberly Clausing and Maurice Obstfeld, two senior fellows at nonpartisan think tank the Peterson Institute for International Economics, wrote last year.
And yet, Trump seems quite committed to the idea. Three months ago, shortly before his second inaugural, the Republican announced plans to create an “External Revenue Service,” so that the U.S. would no longer have to rely on the IRS. He repeated this in his inaugural address, boasting that this External Revenue Service would collect “massive amounts of money pouring into our treasury.”.....
But the latest data reinforces the inconvenient fact that this entire approach is a folly. The White House is clearly destabilizing the existing tax agency, but if the president and his cohorts believe the IRS can simply be mothballed while the U.S. government relies on tariff revenue, the data shows otherwise.
That certainly sounded encouraging, at least until evidence got in the way. CNBC reported the day after the Republican’s online boast:
U.S. Customs and Border Protection appears to be contradicting President Donald Trump’s comments on the daily revenue generated by his latest slate of tariffs. The agency said in a statement to CNBC on Monday, “Since April 5, CBP has collected over $500 million under the new reciprocal tariffs, contributing to more than $21 billion in total tariff revenue from 15 presidential trade actions implemented since Jan 20, 2025.”
The report went on to note that while Trump has repeatedly claimed that the United States was collecting $2 billion per day from tariffs, “the most recent data released Monday by the Treasury Department shows the department’s daily statement of total deposits listed under ‘Customs and Certain Excise Taxes’ as $305 million. All tariffs are collected by U.S. Customs at the point of entry.”.....
As recently as a few days ago, Trump sat down with Fox News and claimed, in apparent seriousness, that there’s a “real chance” that tariffs would generate so much revenue that the United States would no longer need income taxes.
This idea, which he’s peddled before, has always been bananas. In fact, “It is literally impossible for tariffs to fully replace income taxes,” as Kimberly Clausing and Maurice Obstfeld, two senior fellows at nonpartisan think tank the Peterson Institute for International Economics, wrote last year.
And yet, Trump seems quite committed to the idea. Three months ago, shortly before his second inaugural, the Republican announced plans to create an “External Revenue Service,” so that the U.S. would no longer have to rely on the IRS. He repeated this in his inaugural address, boasting that this External Revenue Service would collect “massive amounts of money pouring into our treasury.”.....
But the latest data reinforces the inconvenient fact that this entire approach is a folly. The White House is clearly destabilizing the existing tax agency, but if the president and his cohorts believe the IRS can simply be mothballed while the U.S. government relies on tariff revenue, the data shows otherwise.
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