Trump floated tariff rebates for Americans. That faces many challenges.

President Donald Trump has again floated giving out rebates from tariff funds, posting on Truth Social that Americans would get individual dividends.

Trump has imposed tariffs on goods from nearly every country this year, leading to the highest tariff rate for American consumers in decades. Tariffs are taxes that U.S. businesses pay to import foreign goods and are often passed along to consumers.

Subscribe to The Post Most newsletter for the most important and interesting stories from The Washington Post.

The U.S. government is collecting billions from the levies, but sending direct payments to Americans would be difficult and ultimately unlikely. Here’s what’s going on with tariffs and the pledge of dividends.

– – –

What is Trump proposing with tariff funds?

Trump has suggested several times this year that Americans could see direct payments as a result of tariffs.

“People that are against Tariffs are FOOLS!” he posted Sunday on Truth Social, adding that “A dividend of at least $2000 a person (not including high income people!) will be paid to everyone.”

That plan faces roadblocks, including that there might not be enough money to fund it – at least not yet.

The United States has collected about $174 billion in tariff revenue from new and existing levies through September this year, according to the Tax Foundation, a right-leaning think tank that opposes the tariffs. Erica York, the foundation’s vice president of federal tax policy, posted on X that Trump’s rebate plan could cost nearly $300 billion.

“Only problem, new tariffs have raised $120 billion so far,” she wrote, suggesting that the government wouldn’t have enough money from tariffs to fund the dividend plan.

– – –

Can Trump authorize tariff rebates for Americans?

Trump has floated several ideas to use the tariff funds: paying down the nation’s debt, bailing out farmers and giving rebates to Americans.

But he would need Congress to appropriate the money to do that – it’s not something the president can do unilaterally.

The money is paid by importing businesses to Customs and Border Protection at ports of entry and is then sent to the general fund of the U.S. Treasury. Congress determines how that money is spent.

– – –

What did Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent say?

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Sunday on ABC’s “This Week” that he hadn’t talked to Trump about the $2,000 rebate plan. He seemed to suggest the rebate would not be a direct payment, saying it could come “in lots of forms, in lots of ways.”

“It could be just the tax decreases that we are seeing on the president’s agenda,” he said, pointing to provisions of the tax bill passed earlier this year, which included tax deductions on tips and overtime work, with some limits.