Trump announces powerful new government department that will rake in billions

Donald Trump announced the surprise creation of a powerful new government agency that will collect billions of dollars in taxes and tariffs from foreign countries.

“I am announcing today that I will establish the EXTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE to collect our tariffs, duties and all revenues from foreign sources,” Trump wrote on social media.

Trump argued that the U.S. government has relied too much on taxing Americans for income, specifically pointing to the Internal Revenue Service’s (IRS) much-hated efforts to collect more taxes.

“Through soft and pathetically weak trade deals, the American economy has brought growth and prosperity to the world while we burden ourselves. It’s time for that to change,” he wrote.

Currently, the United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) collects tariffs, so any new agency would have to reorganize the current system.

The president-elect’s statement will likely have an impact on Senate confirmation hearings on his economic cabinet choices, as senators want a thorough explanation of his thinking on the issue.

Trump appears to be making his announcement to emphasize the amount of money the United States can collect from foreign countries for trade.

“We will start charging those who make money from us through Trade, and they will start paying,” he wrote. “FINALLY their share.”

Trump indicated he would create the new agency on his first day in office.

For years, Trump has campaigned adamantly on the issue of raising tariffs on foreign goods entering the United States, even as manufacturers warned him against sparking a trade war.

Trump has proposed a widespread 10 percent tariff on global imports to boost revenue for the United States.

He also sees tariffs as an ecumenical weapon, having threatened China with tariffs of up to 60 percent if they don’t do more to reduce the amount of fentanyl flowing into the United States through Mexico.

Trump has also proposed higher tariffs on Mexico and Canada if they don’t do more to reduce the number of drugs and migrants crossing the border.

He has only escalated his tariff proposals since the election, even suggesting that Canada will join the United States as the 51st state to avoid higher duties on their imported goods.

President-elect Donald Trump has long supported the use of tariffs to raise revenue

“I am a Tariff Man,” he wrote in 2018. “When people or countries come in to plunder the great wealth of our nation, I want them to pay for the privilege of doing so.”

If Trump had his way, it’s likely he would eliminate income taxes altogether.

During the campaign, Trump promised to end taxes of all kinds, including taxes on tips, Social Security benefits and overtime.

‘When we were a smart country, in the 1890s, the country was relatively the richest it had ever been. It had all the rates. There was no income tax,” he said during a meeting with hairdressers in New York City in October.

When asked about the proposal during an interview with podcaster Joe Rogan, Trump indicated he was serious.

‘Of course. Why not?’ he replied when Rogan asked him about the idea.

Trump cited the views of the 25th President of the United States, William McKinley, who endorsed tariffs, calling him the “tariff king” who “spoke beautifully about tariffs.”

“Around the turn of the 20th century, they simply switched to an income tax,” he continued. ‘And do you know why? Because countries were putting a lot of pressure on America.”