No. of Recommendations: 3
So far in FY 2026, customs duties are only about $120B (6.6% of revenues). The FY25 deficit was $1800B.
"Most of the revenue the U.S. government collects comes from contributions from individual taxpayers, small businesses, and corporations through taxes. Additional sources of tax revenue consist of excise tax, estate tax, and other taxes and fees. So far in FY 2026, individual income taxes have accounted for 52% of total revenue while Social Security and Medicare taxes made up another 32%."
https://fiscaldata.treasury.gov/americas-finance-g...Increasing U.S. consumption taxes is sensible. Tariffs are one way (Congress could take this wrong way), or a base national sales tax that is refunded to the state governments. Forty-five states have a sales tax.
"The United States relies much less on consumption taxes than other OECD countries. Taxes on goods and services accounted for only 16.8 percent of total US tax revenue, compared to 31.1 percent in the OECD. This is because all OECD countries, except the United States, levy value-added taxes (VAT), usually at relatively high rates. State and local sales tax rates in the United States are relatively low by comparison, but they are on a different tax base."
https://taxfoundation.org/data/all/federal/us-tax-... 