- US Treasury reports small budget surplus for June
- Gross customs duties reach $27 billion in June
- Bessent says US ‘reaping the rewards’ of Trump’s tariff agenda
- Treasury chief says US tariff revenue could reach $300 billion in 2025
WASHINGTON, July 11 (Reuters) – U.S. customs duty collections surged again in June as President Donald Trump’s tariffs gained steam, topping $100 billion for the first time during a fiscal year and helping to produce a surprise $27 billion budget surplus for the month, the Treasury Department reported on Friday.
The budget data showed that tariffs are starting to build into a significant revenue contributor for the federal government, with customs duties in June hitting new records, quadrupling to $27.2 billion on a gross basis and $26.6 billion on a net basis after refunds.
The budget results are likely to reinforce Trump’s view of tariffs as a lucrative revenue source and as a hammer to enforce non-trade foreign policy. He said on Tuesday that “the big money” would start to flow in after he imposes higher “reciprocal” tariffs on U.S. trading partners on August 1.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on X that the results show the U.S. “reaping the rewards” from Trump’s tariff agenda.
“As President Trump works hard to take back our nation’s economic sovereignty, today’s Monthly Treasury Statement is demonstrating record customs duties – and with no inflation!” Bessent said.
For the first nine months of fiscal 2025, the customs take reached records of $113.3 billion on a gross basis and $108 billion on a net basis, nearly double the prior-year collections. The government’s fiscal year ends on Sept. 30.
Based on those results, tariffs have now grown into the fourth-largest revenue source for the federal government, behind individual withheld receipts at $2.683 trillion for the fiscal year, non-withheld individual receipts at $965 billion and corporate taxes at $392 billion.
In the space of roughly four months, tariffs as a share of federal revenue have more than doubled to around 5% from about 2% historically.