On January 20, 2023, a bronze seal appears next to the door of the US Treasury Department building in Washington, USA.
Kevin Lamarck | Reuters
The US government posted surplus in June as tariffs gave extra bumps to a sharp increase in receipts, the Treasury said Friday.
As government red ink swells throughout the year, it saw an surplus of over $27 billion last month, following a $316 billion deficit in May.
This has resulted in a fiscal year’s fiscal deficit increasing by 5% from a year ago. However, due to calendar adjustments, the deficit actually fell by 1%. Three months remain for the current fiscal year ending September 30th.
A 13% increase in receipts from the same month a year ago could fill the gap, with spending down 7%. Receipts have risen by 7% and spending has risen by 6% per year.
The government last posted a June surplus in 2017 during President Donald Trump’s first term.
Increased tariff collection is helping the government expand its finances.
Tariffs were 301% higher than in June 2024, from $23 billion in May, totaling about $27 billion for the month. Tax collection totaled $113 billion, or 86%, annually, over a year ago.
Trump, in addition to his other elected duties, charged 10% tariffs on imports in April. He also announced a menu of so-called mutual tariffs for various US trading partners, and has been in negotiations ever since.
The Treasury said the month benefited from calendar adjustments, without which the deficit would be $70 billion.
The permanently high Treasury has posed challenges to federal finances.
Net interest on $36 trillion citizen debt totaled $84 billion in June, a slight decline since May, but was higher than any other category except Social Security. Interest for the year is $749 billion, which is paid by the Treasury, minus what it earns from investments. Total interest payments are projected at $1.2 trillion for the entire fiscal year.
Trump has helped cut the Federal Reserve to cut it and help its funding burden to serve federal debt. However, the market does not expect the central bank to ease again until September. Chairman Jerome Powell also said he is still unsure about the potential impact that tariffs could have on inflation.
The “Big Beautiful” spending bill, which passed through Congress earlier this month through Congress, is expected to add around $3.4 trillion to national debt over the next decade, according to forecasts from the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office.
Clarification: This story has been updated to clarify the current deficit figures.
