WASHINGTON, June 11 (Reuters) - The U.S. government

posted a $316 billion budget deficit for May, down 9%, or $31

billion, from a year earlier, as customs receipts nearly

quadrupled to a record $23 billion due to President Donald

Trump's steep new import tariffs, the Treasury Department said

on Wednesday.

Gross customs receipts jumped last month from $6 billion in

May 2024 as Trump's tariffs on goods from nearly all trading

partners began showing up in significant volumes in

port-of-entry collections, a Treasury official said. Fiscal

year-to-date customs receipts were up nearly 60% to $86 billion.

The customs duties helped boost receipts for May to $371

billion, which were up 15%, or $48 billion from May 2024.

Outlays last month reached $687 billion, or $16 billion.

Both the May 2025 and May 2024 budget results had calendar

adjustments, largely for June benefits that were paid in May

because the month of June in both years started on weekends.

After adjusting for these shifts, the deficit in May would have

been $219 billion, a 17% decline from the adjusted May 2024

deficit of $263 billion.

Interest on the public debt, which has been steadily growing

as one of the government's largest expense items, fell by $11

billion, or 10%, in May from a year earlier to $92 billion,

after a decline of $1 billion in April.

For the first eight months of the 2025 fiscal year, the

deficit reached $1.365 trillion, up $162 billion, or 14%, from

the $1.202 trillion in the year-ago period. Fiscal year-to-date

receipts reached $3.482 trillion, a record high for the period

and up 6%, or $194 billion, from the same period a year earlier.

Year-to-date outlays were also a record high at $4.846 trillion,

up $356 billion, or 8%, from the year-ago period.