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How much tariff revenue did the US collect in 2023 and 2024?
Executive Summary
The available analyses show that official U.S. collections reported as “customs duties” or as CBP duties/taxes/fees differ by source and definition: fiscal year (FY) 2024 customs duties are reported as $77.0 billion, while FY 2023 figures vary between about $80 billion (tariff-only) and ~$92.3 billion (CBP duties, taxes, and fees). These discrepancies stem from different agencies’ definitions, reporting windows, and whether non-tariff fees are included [1] [2] [3].
1. What people claimed — a tidy but conflicting set of numbers that need unpacking
Multiple claims in the supplied analyses summarize government revenue from tariffs and related collections but use different line items. One claim reports $92.3 billion collected by U.S. Customs and Border Protection in FY2023 as “duties, taxes, and other fees,” emphasizing CBP’s aggregated collection role rather than tariff-only revenue [1]. A separate claim cites about $80 billion in tariff revenue for FY2023, explicitly calling that figure “existing tariffs” revenue [2]. For FY2024, two independent summaries converge on $77.0 billion in customs duties, framing it as a decline from the FY2022 peak of $108.2 billion [3]. These competing figures show definition and scope are the primary sources of disagreement, not necessarily arithmetic error.
2. How official sources and analysts split hairs — CBP totals versus Treasury/OMB customs duties
The CBP figure ($92.3 billion for FY2023) represents the agency’s total remit: duties plus taxes and other fees collected at the border, which can include user fees and specific excise components administered alongside customs functions [1]. By contrast, Treasury/OMB and other fiscal accounts report “customs duties” as the federal government’s tariff receipts; that line is the one cited at $77.0 billion for FY2024 and shown historically peaking at $108.2 billion in FY2022 [3]. Economists and fiscal trackers such as FRED provide time series labeled “customs duties,” which can be seasonally adjusted and quoted at annual rates, but those series require careful alignment to fiscal-year versus calendar-year conventions [4]. The practical effect is the same: different ledger lines mean different headline numbers.
3. Year-by-year snapshot — what we can say about 2022–2025 trends from the material provided
All supplied summaries agree on the broad trajectory: customs duties rose sharply around FY2022, reaching a noted peak of $108.2 billion, then dropped to $77.0 billion in FY2024 [3]. For FY2023 the material yields two plausible figures: ~$80 billion described as tariff revenue [2] and $92.3 billion for CBP’s duties/taxes/fees bundle [1]. The 2025 reporting referenced indicates a strong rebound in customs duties — one summary cites $195 billion in FY2025 in Treasury reporting and another notes accelerated collections through August 2025 [5] [3]. These later 2025 figures underscore volatility tied to policy changes and timing of collections, but the immediate question (2023 and 2024 totals) is best answered as roughly $80–92 billion in 2023 depending on definition, and $77.0 billion in 2024 when using the Treasury/OMB customs duties line.
4. Why different data series produce different headlines — timing, labels, and what’s bundled
Fiscal reporting differences explain much of the apparent contradiction. CBP reports operational receipts at the point of entry and sometimes aggregates duties with related taxes and fees, producing higher totals than Treasury’s customs duties line which is the budgetary receipt posted to federal accounts [1] [3]. Seasonal adjustments, fiscal vs. calendar-year accounting, and late adjustments or revisions in OMB/Treasury reconciliation cause numeric shifts; FRED series exist for customs duties but require selecting the correct series and frequency to replicate a specific FY total [4]. The supplied analyses also include media and commentary projecting much larger potential revenue under different tariff regimes, illustrating the difference between currently collected revenue and hypothetical or policy-driven revenue scenarios [6].
5. Multiple viewpoints and possible agendas — revenue, policy narratives, and partisan framing
Some analyses emphasize tariffs as a rising revenue source and highlight large 2025 collections tied to new tariff measures, which can be used to argue policy effectiveness or fiscal gains [5] [6]. Conversely, other pieces stress that tariff collections remain a small share of federal receipts (about 1.6% of total federal revenue in FY2024) and caution against treating tariffs as a reliable revenue base [3] [2]. These contrasting emphases reflect different agendas: budget-focused sources frame tariffs as marginal, while policy advocates for tariff expansion highlight headline increases. The underlying data points — CBP aggregated receipts versus Treasury customs duties — are neutral; the policy narrative depends on which line is elevated and why.
6. Bottom line for the original question — a careful, sourced answer you can cite
If the question asks simply “How much tariff revenue did the US collect in 2023 and 2024?” the most defensible, comparable figures from the provided analyses are: FY2023 — approximately $80 billion in tariff-only revenue (or ~$92.3 billion if you include CBP’s duties, taxes, and fees aggregate); FY2024 — $77.0 billion in customs duties per Treasury/OMB reporting [2] [1] [3]. Cite the CBP aggregate when you want the agency’s operational collection total and cite the Treasury/OMB customs duties line when you need the budgetary “tariff revenue” figure that appears in federal receipts tables.