U.S. Budget Gap Balloons to $739 Billion Despite Tariff Revenue

Photographer: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg

It is necessary to talk about the budget of the United States, which is reduced to $ 739 billion despite the tariff revenue. That’s right, the US budget deficit widened to $ 738.6 billion in the first eight months of the fiscal year, an increase of $ 206 billion from the previous year, despite an increase in revenue from President Donald Trump’s tariffs on imported goods.

The deficit was 38.8% more than in the same period of the previous year, the Treasury Department said in its monthly budget review published on Wednesday. So far in the fiscal year that began on October 1, an increase in revenue of 2.3% has not kept pace with a 9.3% increase in spending.

Increasing the budget gap

It is already well known that as Trump increased the trade war with China with higher taxes on imports from the Asian nation, theUnited States registered at least $ 4.9 billion in customs duties in May. As a result, this raised the total to $ 44.9 billion in the first eight months of the fiscal year, almost double the same period of the previous year. For his part, Trump has repeatedly boasted that the United States is receiving billions of dollars through tariffs, although importers in the United States are paying taxes.

However, it is important to note that not everything goes as expected Trump since these additional funds have failed to prevent the budget gap increases in Trump, driven by a combination of Republican tax cuts that will add about $ 1.5 billion in a decade, and the increase in government spending. The deficit is forecast to reach $ 897 billion this fiscal year, from $ 779 billion last year, and will increase to more than $ 1 billion in the fiscal year 2022, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

For its part, the White House has said that the tax cuts will be paid alone to generate more income through faster and more sustainable economic growth. Thus, it should be noted that during May, the fiscal deficit increased to $ 207.8 billion, an increase of 41.5% over the same month last year.

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Source: Sarah McGregor | Bloomberg