Economist and gold advocate Peter Schiff is openly criticizing the idea floating around among Republicans. Their proposal is to use tariff revenue collected by the government to fund rebate checks for American taxpayers.
“One of the dumbest ideas offered by Republicans is to ‘gift’ the tariff revenue back to taxpayers,” Schiff posted to X recently. “If Republicans want taxpayers to have the tariff revenue, then don’t impose tariffs on them in the first place.”
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Rebate Checks As Tariff Revenue Surges
The debate around tariff revenue has heated up in recent months, with President Donald Trump and some Republican lawmakers suggesting that the government's surging tariff collections could be returned to Americans in the form of rebate checks. “We have so much money coming in,” Trump said in July. We’re thinking about a rebate… a little rebate for people of a certain income level. Might be very nice.”
Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) even introduced the American Worker Rebate Act of 2025, which his office said in a statement would provide rebate checks of “at least $600 per adult and dependent child,” funded entirely by tariff receipts. Families could receive $2,400 or more, depending on household size and income.
But critics argue the whole idea is deeply flawed.
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Critics Say Rebate Push Masks The True Cost Of Tariffs
Schiff isn't alone in his opposition. Businessman and investor from the TV show “Shark Tank” Kevin O'Leary said on Fox News in July that he'd rather see the government use the windfall from tariffs to reduce the national debt. “The idea every taxpayer likes better than this idea: use any excess capital to reduce the national debt,” he said. “That is the most important thing we could be thinking about.”
Tax expert Robert Goulder said that rebates like this are more about politics than sound economics. He argued that rebates give the illusion of generosity while ignoring the fact that tariffs are paid by American importers—costs that are often passed directly to consumers. “Every penny of tariff revenue is there because a U.S. importer paid it,” Goulder wrote for Forbes. “The optimal solution for economic self-harm is not to conjure an elaborate rebate mechanism but to scale back the offending tariffs at the first opportunity.”
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Goulder admitted the appeal of getting money back from the government, saying that many taxpayers are far more familiar with their last refund than with how much they actually pay in taxes. But he warned that this emotional satisfaction can be misleading.
The current proposal to use tariffs as a substitute for income taxes—or even just to hand out checks—rests on shaky ground, critics argue. They say it masks the real economic burden and fails to address more sustainable fiscal goals, like deficit and debt reduction.
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