A U.S. Customs and Border Protection sign is displayed outside of their headquarters on May 18, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Kevin Carter/Getty Images)
A government shutdown began at midnight on Wednesday. Companies will still be expected to pay President Donald Trump's tariffs.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said in its latest contingency plans that it will keep collecting import taxes even if federal funding dries up. Those plans have designated its security and revenue collections as essential to federal operations and not subject to mass furloughs during a funding lapse.
"It looks as though despite shutdown concerns, U.S. Customs and Border Protection [CBP] will continue to collect tariff revenue," said Jacob Jensen, a trade expert at the American Action Forum.
CBP collects the tariffs on imported products which are then transferred to the Treasury Department. CBP is an agency within DHS that numbers 68,000 employees. The vast majority of them, or 62,000, would not be furloughed in a shutdown.
"There might be operational delays due to being short staffed but tariff revenue collection won’t be shut down," Jensen told Quartz.
DHS did not respond to a request for comment.
The U.S. government was verging on a shutdown as lawmakers sparred over an extension of Affordable Care Act insurance subsidies and whether those should be attached to a short-term funding bill. The measure would finance the government through Nov. 21.
Democratic senators are refusing to supply their votes on the House-passed legislation unless Republicans reach an agreement to renew those ACA subsidies that are set to expire at the end of the year. Democrats ultimately blocked the legislation, setting in motion the first government shutdown in six years.
A funding lapse would carry ripple effects, more so for other agencies deemed less essential to the regular functions of the federal government.
For the Bureau of Labor Statistics — the agency tasked with compiling consumer price and employment data and publishing monthly reports — it would virtually cease operations for the length of a shutdown.
If government agencies close their doors, the BLS would not publish the next jobs report on Oct. 3. The same delay would hit the inflation report on Oct. 15 if Congress hasn't struck a deal to fund the government by then.
