Donald Trump Wants To Replace Income Taxes w/ Tariffs: ‘We Should Be Taxing Foreign Nations To Enrich Our Citizens’

Donald Trump

Donald Trump Wants To Replace Income Taxes w/ Tariffs: ‘We Should Be Taxing Foreign Nations To Enrich Our Citizens’

Donald Trump is calling for significant changes to the U.S. tax system.

During the 2025 Republican Issues Conference, Donald Trump proposed eliminating income taxes and returning to a tariff-based system, claiming it would make America “rich again.” He said,

“America’s gonna be very rich again, and it’s gonna happen very quickly. It’s time for the United States to return to the system that made us richer and more powerful than ever before.”

He pointed out that the U.S. had no income tax before 1913, relying solely on tariffs:

“You know the U.S. in 1870-1913 — all tariffs — and that was the richest period in the history of the U.S., relatively speaking.”

Donald Trump added,

“Instead of taxing our citizens to enrich foreign nations, we should be tariffing and taxing foreign nations to enrich our citizens.”

Though Donald Trump has promoted this idea before, mainstream economists have often criticized tariffs as an inefficient method for raising revenue or fostering prosperity.

Share your thoughts in the comments below.