NEW YORK, April 28 (Xinhua) — Recent adjustments of U.S. tariffs could add 1.1 trillion U.S. dollars to the federal budget deficit over a period of 10 years, according to Phillip Swagel, director of the Congressional Budget Office (CBO).
The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision striking down U.S. President Donald Trump’s ability to impose tariffs citing the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) alone would add 2 trillion dollars to deficits over a decade, Swagel said Monday in an interview with Bloomberg.
The move by the Trump administration to replace IEEPA tariffs with other trade measures would add up to 800 billion to 900 billion dollars, just under half of the revenue lost as a result of the ruling, according to Swagel.
“The deficit over 10 years would be about 1.1 trillion dollars higher because of the net of the Supreme Court taking away some tariffs, the administration putting back some,” he said.
It is difficult to figure out an exact deficit number until the process is complete as the federal government has a lot of authority to impose new tariffs and change them around, Swagel added.
The impact on energy prices from the war against Iran is offsetting the boost to the economy from tax cuts implemented in 2025, he said.
The United States recorded 1.16 trillion dollars of federal budget deficit in the first half of fiscal year 2026 starting from Oct. 1, 2025 and U.S. total outstanding public debt stood at 38.95 trillion dollars as of Friday, according to data issued by the U.S. government. ■
