Korean Media: Half of Trump's Tariff War Revenue Used for Iran War?
It is reported that the U.S. Department of Defense plans to request an additional budget of approximately $80 billion (about 122 trillion KRW) from Congress to cover costs associated with the Iran war. Analysts suggest that this supplementary budget for war-related expenses is nearly half of the total tax revenue collected by the Trump administration through its tariff policies over the past year.
On the 23rd, according to reports from The Wall Street Journal and Fox News, the U.S. Department of Defense is preparing an additional budget of around $80 billion to pay for Iran war expenditures and replenish consumed ammunition and equipment. This amount is more than double the previous estimate provided by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in Congress, which was about $29 billion.
It is understood that the additional budget will primarily be used to replenish stocks of precision-guided weapons such as Patriot, THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defense), and Tomahawk cruise missiles, which have been heavily depleted during the Iran conflict, as well as for equipment maintenance and operational sustainment costs.
The $80 billion supplemental budget implies that the financial burden of the Iran war far exceeds initial projections by the Department of Defense. Particularly since President Trump has consistently emphasized using large-scale tariffs to strengthen U.S. finances after taking office, some have conducted comparative analyses between the scale of the supplemental budget and the tariffs collected through the tariff policy.
In February, the federal court ruled that the Trump administration’s imposition of tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) was illegal. According to statistics from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the total value of IEEPA-related tariff refunds amounted to approximately $166 billion (about 254 trillion KRW)—equivalent to roughly one year’s total tariff revenue collected by the Trump administration under IEEPA.
The $80 billion requested by the Department of Defense represents about 48% of the total tariff revenue. Although direct comparison is challenging, it indicates that the supplementary funding required for the Iran war and subsequent resupply efforts amounts to nearly half of what the Trump administration collected through its tariff policies.
Moreover, the $80 billion figure is not final—it is merely a preliminary estimate before submission to Congress, and the actual amount may be adjusted during congressional review. If future negotiations between the U.S. and Iran collapse and military conflict resumes, further increases in defense spending will be necessary, including enhancing U.S. military presence in the Middle East and procuring additional weapons, leading to even higher war-related costs.
Source: Chosun Ilbo
Original article: toutiao.com/article/1868933273831497/
Disclaimer: This article reflects the personal views of the author