Daily revenue from US customs duties rose to a record $16.5 billion as American importers made monthly payments to the government for goods received in April.
US customs duties collections hit a record $16.5 billion as importers made monthly payments to the government for goods received in April 2025, according to Treasury Department data released Friday. The surge in revenue indicates the impact of President Donald Trump’s latest tariff policy for the first time.
Nearly two-thirds of importers pay customs duties with a single monthly payment following the arrival of goods at US ports. The deadline for payments for the month of April was Wednesday.
With the continuation of current tariff policies, Trump will not reach the target of $2 billion a day in tariff revenue, which he claims will assist in funding the significant tax reductions included in a bill approved by the House of Representatives this week, reported Bloomberg News.
Remember, the only way for tariff revenue (which is just a direct tax replacing income tax) to hit anything like their targets, two things have to happen;
If that’s the case, then Trump is lying about bringing manufacturing back to the US, and he’s lying about making trade deals. Bringing manufacturing back, if successful, would reduce the total amount of imports, because people would buy the locally made goods instead. Making trade deals would require the US to lower or remove their tariffs as part of the deal. Neither of these things can be true if the tariffs are going to act as a new source of government revenue. And the tariffs themselves do not reduce the tax burden on the American people, they just move more of it to people who can afford it less.