Containers sit at the Port of Los Angeles, in San Pedro, California, U.S., July 8, 2025. REUTERS/Daniel Cole/File Photo
By David Lawder
- Summary
-
- US Treasury reports small budget surplus for June
- Gross customs duties revenue reaches $27 billion for June
- Customs receipts top $100 billion for first time in a fiscal year
- Treasury chief says US tariff revenue could reach $300 billion in 2025
- But year-to-date deficit increased 5% to $1.337 trillion,
WASHINGTON- U.S. gross customs duties revenue grew to a record $27.2 billion in June as collections from President Donald Trump’s tariffs gained steam, combining with calendar shifts in receipts and outlays to produce a $27 billion federal budget surplus for the month, the U.S. Treasury said on Friday.
The tariff receipts, which have increased steadily over the past three months, helped push total June budget receipts up 13%, or $60 billion, to $526 billion, a record for the month. June outlays fell 7%, or $38 billion, to $499 billion, the Treasury said.
Adjusting for calendar shifts of some revenues and benefit payments, the Treasury said that June would have shown a budget deficit of $70 billion.
The data shows that tariff revenues are starting to build into a significant revenue contributor, with customs duties increasing fourfold to $27.2 billion on a gross basis and $26.6 billion on a net basis in June after refunds.
Customs receipts for the first nine months of the fiscal year also topped $100 billion for the first time on an annual basis, reaching a record $113.3 billion on a gross basis and $108 billion on a net basis. The 2025 fiscal year runs from October 1, 2024 to September 30, 2025.
The overall year-to-date deficit, however, increased 5%, or $64 billion, to $1.337 trillion, as outlays for health care programs, Social Security, defense spending and interest on the national debt all increased, the Treasury said.
Receipts for the first nine months of the fiscal year rose 7%, or $254 billion, to a record $4.008 trillion, while outlays grew 6%, or $318 billion, to a record $5.346 trillion.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent earlier this week suggested a steeper ramp-up in tariff collections, telling a cabinet meeting that the U.S. had taken in about $100 billion in tariff income so far this year, with that figure possibly growing to $300 billion by the end of 2025. A Treasury spokesperson said Bessent was referring to the calendar year – essentially the period since Trump returned to office – and not the fiscal year.
Reaching $300 billion in tariff collections by December would imply a substantial increase in collections in the coming months and steep and broad tariff increases from current levels.
Bessent added that the CBO has estimated tariff income will total about $2.8 trillion over 10 years, “which we think is probably low.”
Trump has set a new August 1 deadline for higher “reciprocal” tariff rates set to kick in on nearly all U.S. trading partners, with room for negotiations with some countries in the next three weeks for deals to lower them. Those duties will bring in “the big money,” Trump said.
Since those remarks on Tuesday, the U.S. president has put his tariff assault into overdrive, announcing 50% levies on copper imports and goods from Brazil and a 35% tariff on Canadian goods, all due to start on August 1.
The Trump administration is preparing more sector-based tariffs on semiconductors and pharmaceuticals.
Reuters
.