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US President Donald Trump speaks briefly with reporters after attending the National Prayer Service at the National Cathedral, Washington DC, United States, January 21, 2025. /CFP
Critics have questioned the viability of US President Donald Trump's newly announced External Revenue Service that the new president said would be in charge of collecting tariffs, duties and revenue from foreign sources.
They say that instead of enriching the US, it will cause American businesses and citizens to suffer from paying more taxes.
"This is clever marketing, but it doesn't change the fact that American consumers will end up paying these higher tariffs," Heather Long, an economic analyst and columnist for The Washington Post, wrote on social media platform X, ahead of the announcement.
Long said the US already has a department, namely the US Customs and Border Protection, with the same function to collect tariffs and duties.
Meanwhile, Richard Mojica, a customs lawyer at Miller & Chevalier, said Trump had created confusion by saying that the External Revenue Service "would collect duties and tariffs 'that come from foreign sources' – a term that nobody understands".
"I don't see how the E.R.S. could collect tariff payments from a foreign manufacturer who is not also the US importer of record," Mojica told The New York Times.
Democratic Senator of Oregon Ron Wyden, a senior member of the Senate Finance Committee, said that Trump's tax plans will hurt ordinary Americans but enrich the rich.
"No amount of silly rebranding will hide the fact that Trump is planning a multi-trillion-dollar tax hike on American families and small businesses to pay for another round of tax handouts to the rich," he wrote in a statement.
On Monday, Trump said he would immediately begin to overhaul the trade system to protect American workers and families.
"Instead of taxing our citizens to enrich other countries, we will tariff and tax foreign countries to enrich our citizens ... It will be massive amounts of money pouring into our Treasury, coming from foreign sources," Trump said.
After Trump's inauguration, the US has already begun targeting its biggest trading partners with new tariffs. Trump signed several executive orders, including the imposition of 25 percent tariffs on imported goods from Canada and Mexico on February 1.
On Tuesday, Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said his country will respond if Trump follows through with imposing tariffs on Canada, saying "everything is on the table".
"We will defend Canada, our workers, our businesses, our economy and our sovereignty," said Trudeau.