The accumulation of the United States’ budget deficit has been slowed, and it is thanks to President Donald Trump’s unprecedented tariffs.

Tariffs hit a record high of $16 billion in April, the Treasury Department announced on Monday, Fox News reported.

“Customs duties totaled $16.3 billion last month, nearly double the $8.2 billion brought in for March as President Donald Trump’s sweeping protective tariffs took effect. Trump slapped at least 10% on imports from certain countries and ramped up a trade war with China by hitting the communist nation with as much as 145% tariffs on goods,” Fox News said in its report.

“Year-to-date revenue — from October 2024 through April 2025 — hit $59.2 billion and is up significantly from the $44.1 billion collected over the same period in FY 2024,” it said.

The federal government raked in a budget surplus of $258 billion which was 23 percent more than on year prior.

The tariffs did not reduce the deficit, but they did slow the rate at which the deficit has grown.

“From October 2024 through April 2025, the federal government collected $3.11 trillion in revenue and outlays of $4.159 trillion which were both records, though the deficit itself was not,” the report said.

And the annual inflation rate in April was lower than analysts anticipated, reaching 2.3%, the lowest since February 2021.

The Labor Department reported Tuesday that the consumer price index increased by a seasonally adjusted 0.2% in April, according to CNBC. Although this represented a slight rise from the 0.1% year-over-year decline recorded in March, April’s 2.3% inflation rate still came in slightly below economists’ expectations of 2.4%.

The positive inflation data provided President Donald Trump with favorable economic news shortly after his “Liberation Day” tariffs took effect. The White House highlighted the figures on X, attributing them to the “TRUMP EFFECT.”