US Citizens to Get Tariff 'Dividends'

Doubt: Handouts Will Increase the Nation's Debt

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If Donald Trump is to be believed, millions of Americans could receive a financial slice of the fortunes generated by the US president's sweeping tariffs.

But the eyebrow-raising suggestion from a leader with a flair for creating headlines is largely opaque — with key questions left open about how the giveaway would be funded.

Trump himself has acknowledged the difficulty in splashing cash at a time when the United States faces crushing debt.

"We have so much money coming in, we are thinking about a little rebate," Trump said last month, "but the big thing we want to do is pay down debt."

He has since referred to the so-called rebate as a "dividend," and said it could be for "middle-income and lower-income people".