Tariff Revenue Surges Past Record $150 Billion As Trump’s Trade Deadline Looms

With just days remaining ahead of President Donald Trump’s tariff deadline, at which point steep tariffs will be levied against U.S. trading partners who have not already negotiated new trade deals, tariff revenues have already climbed to a record $150 billion so far this year.

The U.S. raked in nearly $28 billion in customs duties in July, the highest monthly total so far this year, according to the Treasury Department’s “Customs and Certain Excise Taxes” data. The July figures, which are based on data collected through July 25, have already surpassed June’s total of $27 billion, which was also a new record.

For comparison, tariff revenues hovered around $7.9 billion in January before nearly doubling to $16.3 billion in April, when Trump announced the rollout of his “Liberation Day” tariff strategy.

The latest uptick comes as Trump enters the final week of the weeks-long trade negotiations his administration embarked on in April. On Sunday, the president secured a new agreement with the European Union, clearing what was widely seen as the most significant outstanding trade partner who had not yet negotiated a new deal.

Under the terms of the agreement, the largest U.S. trading partner will be dropping all tariffs and existing trade barriers on the United States while also agreeing to pay 15 percent tariffs on most exports to the U.S. market. The EU — which initially remained defiant and vowed to retaliate with additional tariffs and trade barriers of their own — ultimately caved after seeking a lesser rate of 10 percent.

Automobiles are also included in the tariff figure, which was a major stipulation for the administration. Some products, including aircrafts and their components, some chemicals and pharmaceuticals, will not be subject to tariffs European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said during a press conference Sunday.

The agreement with the EU follows a very similar agreement with Japan, another one of the nation’s largest trading partners, just days before. Japan also agreed to pay 15 percent tariffs in addition to allowing open access to their own market for the U.S., while both deals also resulted in trillions of dollars in additional spending on American energy, military technology and more.

“The European Union is going to agree to purchase from the United States $750 billion worthof energy. $750 billion more than they’re investing already. So they’re investing a large amount of money,” Trump announced in a joint press conference with von der Leyen.

Trade discussions are also ongoing with China, which was the initial lone exemption to the President’s Liberation Day tariff pause. The two sides initially levied heavy duties against each other before Beijing relented back in May.

The two sides are still working on a final agreement and agreed to extend the tariff truce beyond this week’s deadline so that negotiations can continue.

In total, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has projected that tariff revenue could generate more than $300 billion in revenue for the federal government this year.