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By Suzanne Blake
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After President Donald Trump suggested that he would give most Americans a $2,000 direct payment courtesy of tariff revenue, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent outlined who would be eligible for the payments.
Why It Matters
Trump has received backlash over his widespread tariffs, with critics saying they raise prices for everyday Americans while encouraging a trade war.
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A $2,000 rebate could help Americans afford higher prices on groceries and everyday necessities, but congressional approval would likely be necessary to get the money into the hands of the American people.
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What To Know
Trump previously touted the $2,000 dividend as a way to give back to Americans after the tariffs he implemented on imports.
"A dividend of at least $2000 a person (not including high income people!) will be paid to everyone," Trump wrote Sunday on Truth Social.
Bessent told Fox News that the payments would be available to those making "less than, say, $100,000." But the exact details haven’t been finalized.
If the $100,000 income cap was implemented, roughly 120 million workers would likely earn the payments, according to Kevin Thompson, the CEO of 9i Capital Group and the host of the 9innings podcast. It would require $240 billion to cover the payments.
“According to the tax foundation, we have only made roughly $130B from both new and old tariffs thus far, so, that would basically wipe away all tariff revenue and then also call for additional spending,” Thompson told Newsweek. “This will end up just like our DOGE dividends and be repositioned as ‘in the tax bill.’”
Trump originally proposed the idea of the tariff rebates in July based on the billions in tariff revenue from the new trade policies.
Bessent told Fox News that the payments "could come in lots of forms, in lots of ways."
"You know, it could be just the tax decreases that we are seeing on the president's agenda," he said. "You know, no tax on tips, no tax on overtime, no tax on Social Security, deductibility of auto loans."
What People Are Saying
Kevin Thompson told Newsweek: “A lot of people are assuming this will look like the pandemic-era stimulus, but I don't see that as being the case.
“If anything does pass, it will be symbolic. Hard checks aren’t happening. That goes directly against the Republican agenda of debt reduction, and they’re not going to reverse that stance with a new round of payments. Long term, this isn’t another COVID-style injection of cash into the economy. It's more of a policy adjustment than a true stimulus.”
Alex Beene, a financial literacy instructor for the University of Tennessee at Martin, told Newsweek: “Over half of American households make $100,000 a year or less, so the proposed tariff stimulus checks would be given to a large swath of the American public. However, there are so many "what-ifs" to account for in this scenario. We still don't know if the Supreme Court is going to allow the current tariff policy to stand. If struck down, billions of dollars in tariffs will have to be refunded and negate any amount the government could distribute. More importantly, it's probable there would be a divide even among Republican members of Congress on the plan, as many within the party are growing concerned over the ever-expanding deficit and its effects.”
What Happens Next
So far, the Trump administration has collected more than $220 billion in tariff revenue, according to the Treasury Department. It is estimated that $2,000 stimulus checks would cost the U.S. roughly $326 billion, CNN said.
To get these types of rebates into the hands of Americans, Congress would likely have to pass a new law enabling the Treasury Department to send the checks. Previously, congressional approval was necessary for stimulus checks, which were signed into law by Trump and former President Joe Biden.
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