Uncle Sam collected an extra $1 billion in customs duties last month, according to new Treasury Department data that shows President Trump is starting to affect the government’s finances.
Customs revenue had been averaging just less than $1 billion a month for the previous five months, but doubled that in March.
“That’s reflecting some of the increases in tariffs,” an official told reporters.
It’s less than the $2 billion a day Mr. Trump claimed this week was rolling after his latest round of “Liberation Day” tariffs.
Treasury’s new numbers run through the end of March, which represents the halfway point in fiscal year 2025.
They show a government on pace for another giant deficit, with Uncle Sam already $1.3 trillion in the red.
That’s the difference between the $2.3 trillion collected in total revenue so far, and the $3.6 trillion paid out.
Spending is up significantly over last year, while revenue has increased by less.
But that gap has closed somewhat over the last two months that Mr. Trump has been in office. In January, the government was running about $300 billion worse than at this point in 2024. Now that figure is closer to $250 billion.
April, when income tax returns are due, is usually the biggest month for new revenue so the government should soon have a better idea what the rest of the year will look like.
As of now, the government is running at a record pace for receipts and spending, but the 6-month deficit trails the record set in the pandemic-addled 2021.
The government has also set a record on interest payments, at $582 billion through six months. That’s an 11% increase over last year’s record pace.
Those grim figures are playing in the debate on Capitol Hill over Mr. Trump’s budget, where some deficit hawks want to go faster in trimming the size of spending.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told the American Bankers Association on Wednesday that Mr. Trump wants a steadier pace.
“We can’t do it all at once or that will cause a recession,” he said.
He said their goal is to reduce the deficit as a percentage of gross domestic product by about a percentage point each year, getting it back to between 3% and 3.5% of GDP.
Last year that figure was 6.6% and the Congressional Budget Office projects it will be 6.2% when fiscal year 2025 closes at the end of September.
The sobering numbers are mostly driven by increasing spending on social welfare programs and interest payments.
Social Security costs are up 8% this year, CBO says, due to the aging population and the cost-of-living adjustment. Social Security also made $15 billion in retroactive payments to people who were affected by the new Social Security Fairness Act, signed by President Biden in January.
Medicare costs are up 7% this year, and Medicaid is up 5%, CBO said.
Defense spending is 7% higher and spending at the Environmental Protection Agency increased $22 billion over last year, thanks to a late Biden-era rush to get money out the door before it could be held up by Mr. Trump’s team.
Homeland Security spending is up 32%, due mostly to disaster relief spending.
