Trump to create External Revenue Service for tariff collection

President-elect Donald Trump on Tuesday said he will create an “External Revenue Service” to collect “Tariffs, Duties and all Revenue from Foreign sources.”

Trump did not give any further details about the proposed government entity.

Currently, U.S. Customs and Border Protection is responsible for collecting tariffs.

“For far too long, we have relied on taxing our Great People using the Internal Revenue Service (IRS),” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post.

“Through soft and pathetically weak Trade agreements, the American Economy has delivered growth and prosperity to the World, while taxing ourselves,” Trump wrote.

“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,” he wrote.

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

Trump wrote that next Monday, “January 20, 2025, will be the birth date of the External Revenue Service.”

Trump will be sworn in for his second nonconsecutive term in the White House that day.

CNN last week reported that Trump is considering declaring a national economic emergency in order to clear the way for him to implement tariffs he wants to impose. He has said he will increase tariffs on imports from China by 10%, and impose 25% fees on products from Canada and Mexico.

Asked for additional details of the plan for the new agency, Trump’s spokesman Steven Cheung told CNBC in an email, “I’d refer you to President Trump’s post on Truth Social.”