Tariff Revenues Helped the US Score a Rare $27B Budget Surplus in June

Uncle Sam’s piggy bank got an unexpected boost this June. The US Treasury Department revealed a $27B budget surplus, making it the first monthly surplus since 2017. The surplus marks a reversal from May’s deficit and was largely driven by Trump’s tariff collections alongside broader revenue gains and lower outlays, which have been pumping cash into federal coffers at breakneck speed.

• Customs duties reached $27B for the month, a 301% increase from the same period last year, while year-to-date tariff collections have hit $113B.
• Economists forecasted a $41.5B deficit for June, making this positive a surprise that brought the fiscal year-to-date deficit down to $1.34T, a 1% drop from the year prior.

Looking ahead: Despite June’s positive numbers, President Trump’s recently signed spending bill is expected to add another $3.4T to the national debt over the next decade, according to Congressional Budget Office projections. Interest payments on that debt hit $84B in June alone, making it the second-largest federal expense after Social Security. Trump has been pushing Fed Chair Jerome Powell to cut rates, arguing lower rates would “save billions” in debt servicing. But markets don’t expect cuts until September, as Powell remains “leery of the potential impact that tariffs might have on inflation.”