Trump’s Tariffs Generate Record Revenues as Trading Partners Hold Back Retaliation

Washington, 16 July 2025 – Former US President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs raised nearly $50 billion in extra customs revenues with minimal retaliation from America’s trading partners, Treasury data reveals.

Four months after Trump launched his trade war, only China and Canada imposed countermeasures against Washington’s aggressive tariff regime, which included a global minimum tariff of 10%, steel and aluminium levies of up to 50%, and auto tariffs at 25%.

As a result, US customs duty revenues surged to a record high of $64 billion in the second quarter – a sharp increase of $47 billion from the same period a year earlier, the Treasury reported on Friday.

Supply chain experts noted that the burden of tariffs was not borne solely by American consumers, as international brands sought to spread cost increases globally to protect their US market share.

Economists say the muted response from other nations reflects not cowardice but pragmatic economic strategy, given the US’s position as the world’s largest consumer market and Trump’s repeated threats to escalate tariffs against defiant states.

“These tariff levels have not been seen since the 1930s,” an economist noted, highlighting the historic scale of Trump’s trade policies and their broader global ramifications.