President-elect Donald Trump revealed plans on Thursday to create an “External Revenue Service” to collect revenue, tariffs, and duties from other countries.
In a Tuesday statement on Truth Social, Trump wrote, “For far too long, we have relied on taxing our Great People using the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Through soft and pathetically weak Trade agreements, the American Economy has delivered growth and prosperity to the World, while taxing ourselves.”
“It is time for that to change,” Trump added. “I am today announcing that I will create the EXTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE to collect our Tariffs, Duties, and all Revenue that come from Foreign sources.”
Trump explained that by establishing the External Revenue Service, the United States will “FINALLY” force countries that “make money off of us with Trade” to begin paying “their fair share.”
“January 20, 2025, will be the birth date of the External Revenue Service,” Trump wrote. “MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”
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Fox Business reported that during a press conference at Mar-A-Lago last week, the president-elect announced that his administration will implement “substantial tariffs” against Canada and Mexico if the two nations do not take steps to stop the unprecedented surge of drug trafficking and illegal immigration along the southern and northern borders of the United States.
According to Fox Business, Trump previously proposed that his administration could levy minimum tariffs of between 10% and 20% on all imported goods and 60% or more on imported goods from China. The president-elect has also threatened to implement a tariff of 20% on all imported goods from Canada and Mexico.
The New York Post reported that the collection of tariffs is currently a responsibility of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, which falls under the authority of the Department of Homeland Security. The outlet noted that the establishment of an External Revenue Service could require support from Congress unless Trump creates the External Revenue Service as a department under an existing federal agency.
Following Trump’s announcement about the creation of the External Revenue Service on Tuesday, EJ Antoni, an economist with the Heritage Foundation, told The New York Post, “I really, really love this idea.”
Antoni added, “Anything that gets us away from income taxes and towards tariffs is a great idea.”