An estimated $4T over a decade for the U.S. Treasury
According to estimates from the Peterson Institute, as of June, Trump’s tariffs have generated some $94 billion US in revenue. The U.S. government pulled in $29.6 billion US in July alone, according to Treasury Department figures.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, who is Trump’s tariffs czar, is projecting about $50 billion US in revenue for the month of August.
Trump was jubilant about the Congressional Budget Office’s report earlier today that found, if the tariffs stay in place for the next 10 years, the government will generate some $3.3 trillion US in revenue and save about $0.7 trillion US in borrowing costs.
That will help chip away at the country’s eye-popping national debt, which is about $37 trillion US and counting.
But the CBO, which is a non-partisan arm of Congress, said its figures are “subject to significant uncertainty” because there are “a lack of precedents” to what Trump is doing here.
Those figures also don’t take into account the possibility — perhaps even the likelihood — that some U.S. businesses will fail under the weight of these tariffs, which could lead to less revenue from corporate and income taxes from businesses and the workers they employ.