Trump administration takes in US$135 billion from tariffs in first half of 2025

Donald Trump has torn up the post-WWII economic playbook of favouring free trade, slapping tariffs on trading partners and allies. It’s paying off, big time for the US.

The United States took in more revenue from tariffs in the first six months of 2025 than it did in all of 2024, according to data from the US Treasury compiled by AFP.

The more than $87 billion (A$135bn) in tariff revenue taken in through the end of June, compared with $79 billion ($123bn) collected in all of 2024, according to the latest monthly data.

Since his return to the White House US President Donald Trump tore up the US post-WWII economic policy playbook of favouring free trade, slapping tariffs on trading partners and on certain products like steel.

The US has subsequently reached deals with a number of countries that will see considerably higher tariffs apply than were in place, but for the most part also considerably lower than the highest rates that Mr Trump threatened to impose.

A broadcast screen of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) is pictured in Mumbai on July 31, 2025, which shows India's exports with Russia while depicting news of US President Donald Trump unveiling sweeping new trade tariffs. Picture: AFP

The previous peak in tariffs was recorded in 2022 at US$98 billion. In June, tariff revenue came in at US$26.6 billion, almost four times the amount collected in January.

President Trump said that sweeping tariffs he has imposed on nations around the world were making the country “great & rich again” as governments raced to strike deals with Washington less than 24 hours before an August 1 deadline.

“ONE YEAR AGO, AMERICA WAS A DEAD COUNTRY, NOW IT IS THE “HOTTEST” COUNTRY ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD,” he wrote on his Truth Social platform.

The deals that the US reached with trading partners will also go into effect on August one, as will a 50 per cent levy on copper imports.

For around 80 countries, including the 27 members of the European Union, rates of between 11 and 50 per cent are set to come into force.

On Thursday, local time, the US gave Mexico, which is America’s largest trading partner, a 90-day extension to reach a deal.

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AUSTRALIA CALLS OUT TRUMP ON TARIFFS DEADLINE

Treasurer Jim Chalmers has taken a fresh shot at the Trump administration’s tariffs, boasting Australia’s lower interest rates show hiking import taxes is “bad for the American economy”.

A chipper Mr Chalmers fronted morning shows on Thursday to spruik the latest inflation data.

The figures, released on Wednesday, showed the annual inflation rate fell to 2.1 per cent for the June quarter – the lowest rate since 2021.

The result has all-but guaranteed the Reserve Bank will cut interest rates next month.

In his morning appearances, Mr Chalmers was eager to highlight that the progress on inflation came despite “uncertainty” gripping the global economy.

Much of that uncertainty stems from Donald Trump’s tariffs, which the US President is threatening to continue hiking.

Mr Trump has also said the August 1 deadline for imposing higher “reciprocal” tariffs stands.

US President Donald Trump has threatened to hike baseline tariffs as high as 20 per cent. Picture: Jim Watson / AFP

Asked by the ABC if he was expecting Australia to be hit with a higher baseline rate, Mr Chalmers said the Albanese government had not “heard differently from the 10 per cent baseline that’s been levied on Australia”.

“Obviously, we continue to engage with the Americans on this,” he told the national broadcaster.

“It’s one of the main issues playing out in the global economy.

“It’s a major source of uncertainty in the economy, whether it’s what’s been said overnight about India, whether it’s the back and forth between the US and China or the tariffs levied directly on Australia.”

Treasurer Jim Chalmers says the Trump administration’s tariffs are ‘bad for the American economy’. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

Pressed on whether he expected that rate to move, he was hesitant to make a call.

“These tariff announcements are a moving feast, but our understanding, our expectation is we get the baseline,” Mr Chalmers said.

“We think that the best outcome is zero because these tariffs are an act of economic self‑harm.

“We see inflation is going up in the US.

“Earlier in the year they had slowing growth, interest rates on hold again in the US overnight, they’ve got higher interest rates than we do in Australia.”

Mr Chalmers went on to say the “tariffs are bad for the American economy, certainly bad for the global economy”.

“We’re better placed and better prepared than most countries to deal with that, but we won’t be immune,” Mr Chalmers said.

“We’ll continue to engage with the Americans on it.”

HILLARY APPROVED RUSSIAN INTERFERENCE PLAN: DECLASSIFIED DOCS

Hillary Clinton approved a plan hatched by a top campaign adviser to “smear” then-candidate Donald Trump with false claims of Russian collusion and distract from her own mounting email scandal during the 2016 campaign, according to explosive intelligence files now declassified. View the documents here.

The intelligence came from two memos obtained by the Obama administration in the lead-up to the Clinton-Trump contest and laid out “confidential conversations” between members of the Democratic National Committee and liberal billionaire George Soros’ Open Society Foundations.

Former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton speaks on stage on the first day of the Democratic National Convention (DNC) at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois, on August 19, 2024. Picture: Robyn Beck / AFP

The plan included “raising the theme of ‘Putin’s support for Trump’” and “subsequently steering public opinion toward the notion that it needs to equate” the Russian leader’s political influence campaign with actual hacking of election infrastructure.

“Clinton approved a plan proposed by one of her foreign policy advisers, Julianne Smith, to ‘smear Donald Trump by magnifying the scandal tied to the intrusion by the Russian special services in the pre-election process to benefit the Republican candidate,’” one of the declassified memos read.

Smith would go on to serve as former President Joe Biden’s ambassador to NATO.

“A two-prong DP [Democratic Party] opposition is focused on discrediting Trump …. [a]mong other things, the Clinton staff, with support from special services, is preparing scandalous revelations of business relations between Trump and the ‘Russian Mafia,’” another declared.

The memos point to then-President Barack Obama potentially seeking to shut down the FBI’s probe of Clinton’s use of a private email server to receive highly classified information while secretary of state.

They also show the origins of a plan to link Mr Trump with Russia around nine months before the 44th president ordered a post-election intelligence assessment claiming the same in December 2016.

That assessment, published in January 2017 included — over the objections of senior CIA officials — details from a since-debunked dossier put together by former MI6 spy Christopher Steele, an opposition research project funded in part by Clinton’s campaign and the DNC.

FBI CHIEF FINDS ‘BURN BAGS’ OF TRUMP-RUSSIA DOCS

FBI Director Kash Patel discovered “burn bags” filled with thousands of documents dating back to the bureau’s Trump-Russia probe during the 2016 campaign, a source familiar with the findings told The New York Post.

One of the documents, discovered in a purported secret room at the FBI’s DC headquarters, is a classified annex to the 2023 report by then-special counsel John Durham that scrutinised the original probe, codenamed “Crossfire Hurricane.”

Us President Donald Trump in the Roosevelt Room at the White House. Picture: AP

The 29-page appendix to the Durham report, which has never been publicly released, includes details of the intelligence he reviewed, according to Fox News Digital, which first reported on the discovery.

In official parlance, “burn bags” refer to containers that hold classified documents that are meant to be destroyed after a certain period of time.

It was not immediately clear whether the documents found by Patel had yet to reach their destroy date or were preserved due to an oversight by officials.

FBI Director Kash Patel allegedly discovered “burn bags” filled with thousands of documents. Picture: AP

The annex will be declassified and turned over to Senate Judiciary Chair Chuck Grassley for eventual public release, a source confirmed to The Post.

Mr Grassley’s office didn’t immediately respond to an inquiry about when the documents would be released.

Fox News Digital reported that the annex includes information that foreign sources warned members of the US intelligence community that the FBI would help spread a narrative that the 2016 Trump campaign illegally colluded with the Kremlin to win the election — before the bureau launched “Crossfire Hurricane” in July 2016.

TRUMP ANNOUNCES SOUTH KOREA TRADE DEAL

President Trump has announced that he had reached an agreement with South Korea that will include US$350 billion (A$544bn) in investment from Seoul and lock in a 15 per cent tariff rate for the Asian nation.

“I am pleased to announce that the United States of America has agreed to a Full and Complete Trade Deal with the Republic of Korea,” Mr Trump wrote on Truth Social.

The Deal is that South Korea will give to the United States $350 Billion Dollars for Investments owned and controlled by the United States, and selected by myself, as President,” he added.

“Additionally, South Korea will purchase $100 Billion Dollars of LNG, or other Energy products and, further, South Korea has agreed to invest a large sum of money for their Investment purposes.”

Donald Trump with US Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr and Medicare and Medicaid Administrator Mehmet Oz at the White House. Picture: AFP

While South Korean imports to the US will be slapped with a 15% duty, Mr Trump said the US “will not be charged a Tariff.”

The president had set an August 1 deadline for countries to agree to one-for-one trade deals with Washington or face potentially steep reciprocal levies.

HARRIS MAKES BIG CALL ON FUTURE

Former vice president Kamala Harris announced she will not seek the governorship of her home state of California, setting up a possible 2028 run for the presidency.

“I love this state, its people and its promise,” Ms Harris said in a statement.

“It is my home. But after deep reflection, I’ve decided that I will not run for governor in this election.”

Kamala Harris has set up a possible 2028 run for the presidency. Picture: AP

Ms Harris — a former senator, Golden State attorney general and San Francisco district attorney — added: “For now, my leadership — and public service — will not be in elected office. I look forward to getting back out and listening to the American people, helping elect Democrats across the nation who will fight fearlessly, and sharing more details in the months ahead about my own plans.”

Prior to the announcement, Harris was widely believed to be contemplating three options for her political future: a run for California governor in 2026, seeking the presidency again in three years, or remaining on the sidelines following her blowout 2024 loss at the hands of Donald Trump.

- with NewsWire and The New York Post

Originally published as Trump administration takes in US$135 billion from tariffs in first half of 2025