A single-day surge in tariff payments last week pushed US government receipts from import duties to more than $22.3 billion in May, marking one of the strongest months on record.
The spike, driven largely by President Trump’s new 10% tariffs on nearly all imports, highlights the scale of his trade policy shift since April.
Most of the month’s revenue came on 22 May, when $16.5 billion was deposited, according to Treasury data.
Since the start of the year, over $92 billion has been collected from customs and excise taxes.
Trump has signalled more tariffs are on the way, including levies on semiconductors, pharmaceuticals and tech firms such as Apple and Samsung.
Although still a modest slice of overall federal income at under 4%, tariff revenues have more than doubled from historical norms and are now being used to bolster Trump’s case for major tax cuts ahead of the election.