A new report from the U.S. Treasury released Tuesday showed that $27.89 billion in tariff revenue flowed into government coffers in December, capping a year in which President Donald Trump fundamentally reshaped U.S. trade policy.
The December figure brings total tariff revenue for 2025 to $264.05 billion, the highest annual total on record. However, it also marks the second consecutive monthly decline after the administration scaled back some key tariffs in November.
The peak for the year came in October, when monthly tariff collections reached $31.35 billion. Revenues slipped to $30.76 billion in November and fell more than 10% from the October high in December, highlighting the cooling effect of reduced import volumes.
The data underscores how tariffs are reshaping global trade flows and reducing trade into the U.S. Commerce Department figures released recently showed the U.S. trade deficit narrowed to $29.4 billion in November, its lowest level since mid-2009. Those figures were delayed due to last fall’s government shutdown.
Tariff collections have changed dramatically year over year. In December 2024, the U.S. collected just $6.81 billion in tariffs. For all of 2024, total tariff revenue amounted to roughly $79 billion, less than one-third of the 2025 total.
The Treasury’s Monthly Statement also showed the U.S. ran a $602 billion deficit between October and December, the first quarter of the fiscal year. December alone recorded a $145 billion deficit, far exceeding monthly tariff revenues despite repeated claims by Trump that tariffs are balancing the federal budget.
Even so, the president has continued to champion tariffs as a cornerstone of fiscal policy. Speaking in Detroit shortly after the data release, Trump again claimed tariffs were delivering “hundreds of billions” to the Treasury.
Revenue declines were not unexpected. The Congressional Budget Office recently cut its estimate of tariff receipts over the next decade by $1 trillion, reflecting reduced trade volumes and policy uncertainty.
Tariffs remain central to Trump’s broader agenda in 2026. The president has argued they could fund major initiatives, including a proposed $500 billion increase in the U.S. military budget, despite that figure exceeding twice the total tariff revenue collected in 2025.
Trade uncertainty continues to weigh on global flows. A recent Project44 report found U.S. imports from China fell 28% in 2025, while exports to China dropped 38%, describing the shift as one of the sharpest bilateral trade contractions in recent history.
