Bessent: US Tariff Revenue Could Top $500B a Year

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Tuesday that customs duty revenues generated from President Donald Trump’s tariffs could exceed $500 billion annually, noting a significant spike from July to August and predicting an even larger increase in September.

Speaking during a White House Cabinet meeting, Bessent explained that his earlier projection of $300 billion in yearly tariff collections had been too conservative.

“We had a substantial jump from July to August, and I think we’re going to see a bigger jump from August to September,” Bessent said. “So I think we could be on our way well over half a trillion, maybe towards a trillion-dollar number. This administration, your administration, has made a meaningful dent in the budget deficit.”

These additional revenues are expected to help offset the budget shortfalls caused by the Republicans’ tax-cut and spending package passed earlier this year. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has estimated that the bill will increase the federal deficit by $3.4 trillion over the next decade.

Driven by Trump’s tariffs, U.S. customs duty collections in July surged by nearly $21 billion compared to the $7 billion collected in July 2024, nearly matching the $20 billion jump seen in June. Higher tariff rates on nearly all major trading partners officially took effect on August 7.

According to a U.S. Treasury report released Monday, as of August 22 the government had already brought in $29.6 billion in combined customs and excise taxes during August, equaling the total collected for the entire month of July. As of July 22, the combined figure stood at $7.8 billion, though daily customs duty revenues can fluctuate significantly.

Bessent also highlighted the Congressional Budget Office’s recently updated forecast, which now projects that Trump’s tariffs could cut federal deficits by $4 trillion over the next ten years. “And I would expect that that number could go up from here,” Bessent added.

This updated projection represents an increase from the CBO’s June estimate, which predicted that tariff revenues would reduce deficits by $3 trillion over a ten-year period.

{Matzav.com}