Richard Quest Calls June and July’s Surplus Brought up by Scott Jennings ‘Funny Numbers’

EXCERPT:

QUEST: “Instead, this myopic obsession the president has with tariffs — so he‘s got his tariffs, he‘s got a global tariff rate of between 15 to 20%, and he‘s happy with that, and it will bring in billions of dollars. Not as much as he likes to think, by the way. It‘ll bring in about 2 trillion over 10 years, when he‘s increased the deficit by more than 5 trillion over 10 years. But that‘s another story which you don‘t want to reflect."

JENNINGS: "We did have a budget surplus, did we not? In June and July."

QUEST: "Oh, come on. This is — this is funny numbers because of imports and just the way it was all structured. The 10-year number is quite clear that the tariffs will not bring in the difference on the Big Beautiful Bill. It‘s quite simple matter of arithmetic. The trade deals will not — take this to the bank. The trade deals which he‘s been announcing long-term will not change the terms of trade."