The government took in $79 billion in customs duties in calendar year 2024. A year later the figure was $264 billion. That jump, according to the Tax Foundation, followed several rounds of new tariffs from the Trump administration, and it put the effective tariff rate at 7.7 percent in 2025, the highest since 1947.
The collection side of that story runs through U.S. Customs and Border Protection. One often-quoted staffing profile of the agency says roughly 2,500 of its employees hold revenue positions, collecting “over $30 billion” a year in entry duties and taxes and appraising and classifying imported goods. Against the 2025 figure, that number looks like a relic.
Refunds eat the revenue
The picture changed in February 2026, when the Supreme Court struck down the tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. The money collected under them, plus interest, has to go back to importers. Refunds picked up speed in May 2026, and the Tax Foundation says the government paid out more than it brought in that month.
Policy has not stood still either. Tariff rules have changed more than 50 times since January 2025. The foundation estimates that the tariffs now in force and scheduled apply to 54 percent of goods imports in 2026, lifting the applied rate to 11.8 percent from 1.5 percent in 2022. Its estimate for the effective rate in 2026, before refunds, is 7.2 percent.
For households, it puts the average cost at $820 in 2026, down from $1,000 in 2025, because the replacement tariffs have not fully made up for the ones the court struck down.
The agency doing the collecting
CBP is the largest federal law enforcement agency in the Department of Homeland Security, with more than 58,000 employees. Revenue is one job among many. About 33,300 officers inspect passengers and cargo at 328 ports of entry, and the agency runs 14 more pre-clearance locations. Roughly 21,000 Border Patrol agents cover 1,900 miles of border with Mexico and 5,000 miles with Canada. Another 2,200 agriculture specialists watch for pests and plant and animal disease.
The Container Security Initiative sends the screening overseas, checking risky containers at the foreign port of departure before they load for the United States. It operates at a total of 58 ports. At home, CBP claims legal authority to carry out some activities up to 100 miles inland from any land or sea border, which can include interior checkpoints.
The Tax Foundation projects that the new tariffs will add $151.5 billion in direct customs revenue in 2026.
Sources
- United States Customs and Border Protection – Wikipedia
- Tracking the Impact of the Trump Tariffs & Trade War
