Public Opinions and Perspectives:
During Monday’s cabinet meeting, Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick addressed Trump, stating: “What is so exciting is April 2 is just around the corner and that’s American Liberation Day. That’s the day when the rest of the world starts to treat America with respect—and your leadership, understanding how the rest of the world treats us and what balance and what fair trade finally is going to be, is going to take care of America, it’s going to launch the external revenue service, to start to build the power and prestige of America back, and I’m honored to be helping you on that course.”
During Monday’s cabinet meeting, Trump said: “It’s an interesting term right—the External Revenue Service? We’re going to take in a lot of money from the outside and that’s going to keep our taxes low, and I think getting a lot lower. It’s going to be a lot of money. The external will take care of the internal to a large extent.”
President Trump, during his inauguration speech, said: “I will immediately begin the overhaul of our trade system to protect American workers and families. Instead of taxing our citizens to enrich other countries, we will tariff and tax foreign countries to enrich our citizens. For this purpose, we are establishing the External Revenue Service to collect all tariffs, duties, and revenues. It will be massive amounts of money pouring into our Treasury, coming from foreign sources.”
Economist and tax policy professor Kimberly Clausing described the creation of an external revenue service as “highly impractical.”: “First, we already have a Customs and Border Protection office … including officials who collect tariffs. Second, it seems like an odd move for an Administration supposedly focused on efficiency to suggest a redundant government agency as a solution. Even very high tariffs could only replace a minority of the revenue raised by income taxation, and such high tariffs would cripple the economy.”
Supporters, however, counter these concerns by arguing Trump’s reciprocal tariff strategy is designed precisely to level the global economic playing field, compelling other nations to engage in fairer trade practices and contribute their “fair share.”
