Trump says he will create new agency to collect revenue from foreign sources

President-elect Trump plans to create the External Revenue Service to collect tariffs and duties from foreign sources.

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump said on Tuesday (January 14, 2024) he will create a new government agency called the External Revenue Service "to collect tariffs, duties, and all revenue" from foreign sources as he readies new import tariffs ahead of his inauguration next week. Mr. Trump said in a social media post he would create the department on Jan. 20, the day he takes office as President for a second term, adding that Americans have been taxed for too long by the Internal Revenue Service.

"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," the Republican said in a post on Truth Social.

"We will begin charging those that make money off of us with Trade, and they will start paying, FINALLY, their fair share."

A spokesperson for Mr. Trump's transition team could not be immediately reached for comment to clarify Mr. Trump's statement or explain how the new agency would work.

Mr. Trump did not specify whether the new agency would replace collections of tariffs, duties, fees and fines by U.S. Customs and Border Protection or collection of taxes on foreign corporate and individual income by the IRS.

It also was unclear whether the move would create additional government bureaucracy, which would appear to go against the plans of Mr. Trump's informal Department of Government Efficiency, an effort led by billionaire Elon Musk and former biotech executive Vivek Ramaswamy aimed at finding trillions of dollars in budget savings by streamlining government operations.

During his presidential campaign, Mr. Trump often mused about replacing U.S. income taxes with tariff revenue, but the numbers do not add up, according to private economists and forecasters.