Customs duties, along with some excise taxes, generated $152 billion through July, roughly double the $78 billion netted over the same time period last fiscal year, according to Treasury data.
“The good news is that Tariffs are bringing Billions of Dollars into the USA!” Mr. Trump said on social media shortly after a
weak jobs report showed signs of strain in the labor market.
Trump's statement is a lie. Tariffs aren't "bringing billions of dollars into the USA." The dollars were already here, paid by the importers. Who are Americans. Tariffs are a tax on Americans.
Mr. Trump has long fantasized about
replacing taxes on income with tariffs. He often refers fondly to American fiscal policy in the late 19th century, when there was
no income tax and the government relied on tariffs, citing that as a model for the future. And while income and payroll taxes remain by far the most important sources of government revenue, the combination of Mr. Trump’s tariffs and the latest Republican tax cut does, on the margin, move the United States away from taxing earnings and toward taxing goods.
Such a shift is expected to be regressive, meaning that rich Americans will fare better than poorer Americans under the change. That’s because cutting taxes on income does, in general, provide the biggest benefit to richer Americans who earn the most income. The recent Republican cut to income taxes and the social safety net is perhaps the most
regressive piece of major legislation in decades.
Placing new taxes on imported products, however, is expected to raise the cost of everyday goods.
...is what you're desperate to distance yourself from now.