Former Trump Assistant Commerce Secretary Nazak Nikakhtar breaks down President-elect Trump’s tariff strategy on ‘The Big Money Show’.
President-elect Donald Trump announced plans on Tuesday to create a new agency called the “External Revenue Service” to collect money from foreign countries that owe the United States.
“For too long we have relied on taxing our great people with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS),” Trump wrote on TRUTH Social.
“Through soft and pathetically weak trade agreements, the American economy has provided growth and prosperity to the world while we have taxed ourselves,” the president-elect continued. “It is time to change that. Today I am announcing that I will create a FOREIGN REVENUE SERVICE to collect our tariffs, customs duties and all revenues that come from foreign sources.”
He added: “We will begin to charge those of us who make money from trade and they will begin to pay, FINALLY, their fair share. January 20, 2025 will be the birth date of the Internal Revenue Service. LET’S MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”
CANADA IS PREPARING TRUMP’S ANSWER TO TARIFFS: ‘THERE ARE NO WINNERS IN THE TRADE WAR’
President-elect Donald Trump speaks to members of the media during a press conference at the Mar-a-Lago Club on January 7, 2025 in Palm Beach, Florida. (Scott Olson/Getty Images/Getty Images)
At a press conference at his Mar-a-Lago estate last week, Trump promised to impose “substantial tariffs” against Mexico and Canada if they do not adequately curb the flow of drugs and migrants across their borders with the US. The president-elect has promised to usher in a “golden age for America,” adding that the United States has access to natural resources “that no one else has.”
During the campaign, Trump proposed imposing minimum tariffs of 10% to 20% on all imported goods, and 60% or more on import from China. Last month, he threatened to impose a 25 percent tariff on all imports from Canada and Mexico from his first day in office, but it is unclear how the incoming administration’s plans will play out.
Trump’s Treasury Secretary nominee Scott Bessent arrives for a meeting with Sen. Mike Crap, R-Idaho, on December 10, 2024 in Washington, DC (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images/Getty Images)
TRUMP ORDERS EU TO BUY MORE US OIL AND GAS OR FACE TARIFFS ALL THE TIME
Bloomberg reported on Tuesday that Trump’s transition team was studying how to gradually increase the tariffs month by month by relying on executive powers granted under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. One option reportedly under consideration is to gradually raise tariffs by around 2% to 5% per month for trading partners to offset falling inflation.
Scott Bessent, Kevin Hassett and Stephen Miran are leading the development of the tariff strategy, Bloomberg reported, citing sources familiar with the matter. Trump chose them to become Treasury Secretaries, Directors of the National Economic Council and Heads of the Council of Economic Advisers.
White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett speaks to reporters outside the West Wing of the White House on May 22, 2020. Trump nominated him to be director of the National Economic Council during his second term. (Alex Wong/Getty Images/Getty Images)
CBS Newsmeanwhile, he noted that federal agencies that collect customs revenue already exist. Tariffs are set by the Department of Commerce and the Office of the United States Trade Representative, but collection and enforcement are primarily carried out by US Customs and Border Protection. These collections are then deposited in the United States General Fund.
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Trump has also proposed heavy tariffs against China to hold Beijing accountable for allegedly sending illegal drugs smuggled into the United States.
The newly elected president also threatened to European Union they must buy more US oil and gas or else be subject to “TARIFFS all the way!”
