Trump tariffs are fattening federal coffers.
The Committee for a Responsible Budget, a bipartisan group that has criticized the Trump administration and its successors for not doing more to address national deficits, reported that the monthly tariff revenue in July jumped to $25 billion, up from $7 billion a year ago.
By the time Mr. Trump leaves office at the end of his term, the new tariffs pushed by the Trump administration will bring in about $1.3 trillion “before accounting for economic effects,” the budget hawks estimate.
“Importantly, our estimates are very rough and intended to reflect the general magnitude of the policies rather than precise scores, given the complexity of the tariffs and their impacts,” the group said in its tariff analysis. “Estimates also exclude macroeconomic effects, which could reduce the net (real) deficit reduction from tariffs to the extent they lead to slower growth and higher inflation.”
They also note that the additional revenue won’t be enough to offset the trillions Mr. Trump’s signature Big Beautiful Bill, which extended tax cuts, increased spending on the border and the military and established new eligibility requirements on Medicaid recipients, is expected to add to the national debt.
Still, they said the tariff hikes are “likely to meaningfully reduce deficits if allowed to remain in effect.”
SEE ALSO: Inflation holds steady as Trump ramps up new tariffs
Mr. Trump has faced blowback over his tariffs. Yet they haven’t fueled the level of inflation that critics fear.
Last week, the president imposed tariffs ranging between 15% and 41% on more than 67 countries, raising levies to their highest levels in over a century.
He has solidified the 10% blanket tariff on all imports and is implementing the 15% rate he negotiated with the European Union, Japan, South Korea and other countries.
The Committee for a Responsible Budget stated that, before Mr. Trump’s first term in office, U.S. tariffs were generating about $3 billion per month.
That grew to $7 billion after Mr. Trump raised tariffs during his first term, including on Chinese goods, steel and aluminum.
“The tariffs have helped,” Mr. Trump told reporters Monday at the White House. “It’s given us not only the money, it’s billions, trillions of dollars of money, but it gives us great power over enemies.”
• Tom Howell Jr. contributed to this story.
