President Donald Trump has often discussed how the tariffs he's imposed on imported goods will help to significantly raise revenues for the federal government, despite what some critics claim to the contrary.

Trump's assertions have been vindicated, as it was recently revealed that his increased tariffs have brought in nearly $160 billion in additional revenue so far this year, which is already more than the entirety of revenue received from tariffs throughout all of last year, according to Fox News.

That windfall has prompted talk from the Treasury secretary about beginning to pay down the national debt as well as predictions from a congressional watchdog group about the potential for substantial annual deficit reductions over the coming years.

More tariff revenues raised already than all of last year

Tariffs, also known as customs duties, are taxes imposed on goods imported into the U.S. from other countries, which President Trump has used effectively to counter similar taxes and trade barriers imposed on American exports by other countries and as leverage to negotiate more favorable trade deals for the U.S.

While the president's critics often assert that the tariffs are ultimately paid by American consumers in the form of higher prices for imported goods, that isn't always or entirely the case, as in many instances the foreign companies and countries simply absorb the higher cost of doing business rather than lose the American customers they rely upon.

Regardless of who and the portion thereof that is actually paying the tariffs, the U.S. Treasury Department's Daily Statement for August 21 showed that more than $159 billion had been raised thus far in the 2025 Fiscal Year from "customs and certain excise taxes."

In the Treasury's most recent Monthly Statement, which accounted through the end of July, it was noted that the U.S. received roughly $28 billion in revenue from customs duties, for a total at that point of approximately $136 billion for the year so far, which was more than twice the roughly $63 billion raised to that point by tariffs in 2024.

Fox News noted that, at the current pace, the U.S. will have collected more in revenues from tariffs in just five months than it did for the entirety of 2024.

Estimated tariff revenues will be revised up "substantially"

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, during an appearance this past week on CNBC, addressed the surge in tariff revenues received and said, "President Trump and I are laser-focused on paying down the debt," which currently stands at more than $37 trillion.

"So I have been saying that tariff revenue could be 300 billion this year. I’m going to have to revise that up substantially," he continued.

"So I think that we’re going to bring down the deficit to GDP. We’ll start paying down debt," the secretary added. "And then at a point, that can be used as an offset to the American people."

Tariffs could reduce the deficit by up to $4 trillion

Similarly positive news about the revenues received from tariffs came this week in an updated projection from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, which noted that effective tariff rates were approximately 18% higher this year as compared to last year.

Should the higher tariff rates persist for the next 10 years -- a time frame all CBO projections are based upon -- it was estimated that tariff revenues alone would reduce the primary deficit by around $3.3 trillion, which in turn would reduce the need for the government to borrow money, which would save roughly $700 billion in interest payments, for a total combined deficit savings of up to $4 trillion.

Critics will undoubtedly continue to trash President Trump's tariffs, but even they can't deny that they are working to bring in increased revenue for the government and, in turn, the American people, and if utilized responsibly, could ultimately help to reduce the deficit and pay down the national debt.