US President-elect Donald Trump announced plans on Tuesday to establish a new agency called the External Revenue Service. The agency would be responsible for collecting tariffs and other revenues from foreign countries.
“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. 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 said on his social media platform, Truth Social.
He asserting his resolve to create the new department he added, “We will begin charging those that make money off of us with Trade, and they will start paying, FINALLY, their fair share. January 20, 2025, will be the birth date of the External Revenue Service. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!
The creation of the new agency would require an act of Congress. Republicans currently hold the majority in both the House and Senate.
Tariffs, with potential levies of 25% on goods from allies like Canada and Mexico and 60% on goods from China, are a key part of Trump’s economic agenda. Trump asserted earlier this month that the nation’s substantial prosperity during the Second Industrial Revolution was solely attributed to tariffs. He emphasised that implementing tariffs could eliminate national debt and restore America’s financial prosperity.
However. economists have expressed skepticism about the tariffs, stating that the costs will be passed on to consumers and considering them an inefficient way for governments to raise money.
Democratic politicians opposed the External Revenue Service proposal. Oregon Senator Ron Wyden, leading Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, said, “No amount of silly rebranding will hide the fact that Trump is planning a multi-trillion-dollar tax hike on American families and small businesses to pay for another round of tax handouts to the rich.”
Trump, who openly talked about reducing the size of government, plans to establish a new agency to take on tasks already managed by existing bodies, such as the commerce department and customs and border protection, which oversee duties and revenue collection from other nations.
The president-elect has selected two prominent business leaders to spearhead his department of government efficiency (DOGE), a nongovernmental task force dedicated to identifying ways to dismiss federal employees, eliminate programs, and streamline federal regulations. This initiative forms a core part of his “Save America” agenda for his second term in the White House.
Billionaire Elon Musk and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy are at the helm of DOGE’s mission to scale back the size and reach of the federal government.
