Trump’s April tariff revenue topped $17 billion. That dwarfs any haul from his first term.
President Trump’s tariffs became very real for importers last month as the government collected more than $17.4 billion in “Customs and Certain Excise Taxes” during April.
That was nearly double March’s haul of $9.6 billion, dwarfing the smaller spikes in revenue seen during Trump’s first term.
All told, the duties have deposited more than $70 billion into government coffers since Jan. 1.
“As Billions of Dollars pour in from Tariffs … we’re only in a TRANSITION STAGE, just getting started!!!” Trump said on Truth Social Friday.
He could be right. April’s data will perhaps provide only a glimpse of what’s coming. The biggest tariffs — 10% duties on nearly every country in the world — took effect on April 5, with plenty of additional tariffs promised for the months ahead.
But also complicating the tariff revenue picture going forward are immediate signs of a drop in shipping volume in response to the duties. The Port of Los Angeles, as one example, is now projecting a drop in cargo volume of more than a third starting next week.
TARIFFS DWARFED BY THE DEFICIT
But tariff revenue has a long way to go before it makes up a significant slice of government receipts.
A long way before it can be used ‘to reduce taxes’
Trump himself has often touted the surge of government tariff receipts, suggesting the US government is on its way to a repeat of an era of US history that ended more than a century ago when tariffs made up a significant portion of government revenues.