The United States collected a record amount of revenue from tariffs in April, helping to limit a further widening of the budget deficit, though President Donald Trump’s search for trade deals with targeted nations may scale back future amounts collected.

The Treasury Department recorded $16 billion in customs-duties revenue for April, marking a $9 billion or 130% increase on the same month a year before. That’s the biggest monthly take for customs in at least a decade, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Monday’s data came out hours after the U.S. reached a tentative deal with China to remove a swath of escalatory tariffs. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer announced that American levies on Chinese goods would come down to 30% for now, from 145%. Last week, the U.S. reached a trade agreement with the UK.

For the first seven months of the fiscal year, the federal government logged a $1.05 trillion deficit, a 13% increase on the same period a year earlier after accounting for calendar-year differences. Taking out some deferred taxes that had inflated 2024 revenue, the 2025 deficit is 4% wider, a Treasury official said.

Zepbound trims more fat than Wegovy

Eli Lilly & Co.’s obesity drug Zepbound helped people trim about 2 inches more off their waists than Novo Nordisk A/S’s Wegovy in the first head-to-head study of the rival medicines.

Zepbound won on all measures of effectiveness in a trial presented Monday at an obesity conference, spurring an average of 47% more weight loss over 72 weeks.

Lilly, which funded the research, is leapfrogging Novo in the booming market for powerful new obesity medicines. The impact on waistlines is crucial because they are a surrogate measure for the dangerous fat that gets stored around organs in the abdomen.

The study findings could influence prescribing decisions, said Louis Aronne, the NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital physician and Cornell University professor who led the study.

“It’s been shown that a 5-centimeter (2-inch) difference could reduce blood pressure and other metabolic parameters,” Aronne said.

Patients lost an average of 18.4 centimeters around their waists on Zepbound and 13 centimeters on Wegovy.

Belly fat is linked to a higher risk of diseases such as heart attacks, strokes and diabetes, so doctors recommend that a person’s waistline be no more than half their height.

Canadian parts maker Linamr Corp. a surprise winner in trade war

Canadian auto parts maker Linamar Corp., once thought to be a casualty of President Donald Trump’s tariffs on cars and metals, says it’s now a possible beneficiary of the trade war.

“Virtually everything” Linamar ships to the U.S. is exempt from tariffs because the parts comply with the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade deal, Executive Chair Linda Hasenfratz said during a conference call with analysts.

As a result, Linamar took over about $144 million in contracts from other suppliers in the first quarter, according to its earnings presentation. The U.S. has imposed tariffs on components made outside the USMCA zone.

Trump’s tariffs on metals and auto parts have had little effect on Linamar’s bottom line, Hasenfratz said, and her greater concern is for automakers themselves. Increased costs for offshore parts put upward pressure on prices, “which obviously would impact consumer demand and impact all of us,” she said.

Compiled from Bloomberg reports.