U.S. Customs "slaps Trump in the face", tariff revenue far lower than his claimed $20 billion per day.

Despite President Trump's repeated public statements that the US government collects up to $2 billion in revenue per day through its new round of tariff policies, the latest data released by the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) suggests that this figure may be greatly exaggerated. The US Customs issued a statement to foreign media on Monday, stating that since April 5, 2025, under Trump's latest "reciprocal tariffs" policy, CBP has collected over $500 million in additional tariffs. As of now, since January 20, 2025, the total tariff revenue generated by 15 presidential trade actions has exceeded $21 billion. The CBP emphasized, "Even with a 10-hour financial system outage in early April that prevented some importers from entering tax exempt codes, the US Customs' daily average tariff revenue remained unaffected at $250 million." This data is significantly different from Trump's previous claims. Trump has recently publicly claimed multiple times that the US government collects $2 billion per day in tariffs revenue, "this is the result of reciprocal trade." He emphasized that this revenue directly comes from his so-called "reciprocal tariffs." However, the latest "Daily Revenue Report" published by the US Treasury on Monday shows that the total deposits under the category of "Customs and Special Consumption Taxes" for April 15 were only $305 million, far below Trump's claim of $2 billion. It is worth noting that this category includes all tariffs and other related taxes collected by customs. Earlier in early April, US importers experienced a brief interruption in the financial system, causing some goods already in transit to be unable to enter the exemption code in time, potentially resulting in high tariffs being mistakenly imposed. However, the US Customs stated that this "brief system outage" did not have a substantial impact on the overall tax collection process. The CBP stated in its release, "During that outage, our daily average tariff revenue remained at $250 million, with no interruptions." It is reported that the Trump administration suddenly imposed tariffs on dozens of countries in early April, including key industries such as steel, aluminum, and automobiles. However, after a few hours of implementation, the tariff rates for most products were temporarily lowered to 10%, except for a significant increase in tariffs on Chinese goods, demonstrating the Trump administration's tough stance on trade with China. Meanwhile, the automotive industry continues to maintain high tariff policies, and trade policies in the pharmaceutical industry are still being formulated, with new targeted measures expected to be announced in the coming weeks. Analysts point out that the current tariff system has become increasingly complex, not only with differences between industries but also with a clear "layered" structure between countries. For enterprises, this means further declining predictability in the supply chain, facing more challenges in cross-border procurement and pricing strategies. Regarding Trump's claim of "earning $2 billion per day," analysts have expressed doubts. A former Treasury official pointed out, "Based on the current disclosed financial data, this claim is clearly inaccurate. Actual daily customs revenue fluctuates between $200 to $300 million." Several economists have warned that exaggerating tariff revenue not only misleads the public but may also lead to a misjudgment of the US fiscal health by the market. More importantly, the direct burden of tariffs is usually borne by US importers, which may ultimately be passed on to consumers, potentially exacerbating inflationary pressures.