Fact check: Tariffs are paid by the US companies that import goods, so no money is flowing into the USA. It's just going from American companies (and, eventually, American consumers) to the government.

1. Summary of the results

The analyses reveal a mixed picture regarding the original statement's accuracy. Multiple sources confirm that tariffs are indeed paid by US companies that import goods, not by foreign countries ^{[1] [2]}. CBS News specifically states that "Tariffs are taxes paid by importers, which must pay the fees to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection when it accepts shipments at American ports" ^[1].

However, the analyses strongly contradict the claim that "no money is flowing into the USA." The data shows that substantial revenue is flowing into the US government:

• The US government collected nearly $30 billion in tariff revenue last month, representing a 242% jump compared to the previous July ^[3]
• Tariff revenue has totaled about $200 billion since April, which is triple the same period of 2024 ^[4]
• Over $152 billion has been collected from taxes on foreign imports so far this year ^[5]

2. Missing context/alternative viewpoints

The original statement omits several critical pieces of context that significantly alter the economic picture:

• Revenue generation scale: The analyses reveal that tariffs are generating tens of billions of dollars monthly for the US government, making them a substantial revenue source ^{[3] [5]}
• Policy implications: The White House is considering using tariff revenue to send "tariff rebate checks" to Americans, indicating the government views this as redistributable income ^[4]
• Long-term fiscal impact: The substantial revenue could be used to offset growing deficits, potentially making Trump's tariffs difficult to remove in the future ^[5]
• Trade dynamics: The US trade deficit has narrowed to a 2-year low due to reduced imports, suggesting tariffs are affecting trade patterns beyond just revenue collection ^{[6] [7]}

Political beneficiaries of emphasizing only the "burden on companies" narrative include:

• Free trade advocates who benefit from portraying tariffs as purely harmful
• Import-dependent businesses seeking to build opposition to tariff policies
• Political opponents of current tariff policies who gain from emphasizing costs over benefits

3. Potential misinformation/bias in the original statement

The original statement contains a significant factual omission that borders on misinformation. While technically correct that US companies pay tariffs, the statement's claim that "no money is flowing into the USA" is demonstrably false based on the revenue data ^{[3] [4] [5]}.

The statement appears to employ selective framing by:

• Focusing exclusively on who pays tariffs while ignoring the massive revenue generation
• Presenting tariffs as a pure transfer from companies to government, omitting that this represents new government income that can be redistributed
• Failing to acknowledge that tariff revenue has reached levels not seen since the Great Depression ^[8]

This framing could mislead readers into believing tariffs provide no economic benefit to the country, when the analyses show the US government is collecting hundreds of billions in new revenue that could theoretically be returned to citizens or used for public purposes ^{[4] [9]}.