Many CEOs have been scrambling this year to rewire supply chains and minimize the impact of President Trump's new tariffs. The import taxes have dented profits at dozens of big companies and led many economists to downgrade their forecasts for growth and hiring.

The tariffs aren't all bad, however. Trump and his aides have been crowing about the new revenue the tax hikes are bringing in, and there's now an important third-party endorsement of that view.

Rating agency S&P Global updated its credit assessment of the United States on Aug. 18, citing new tariff revenue as a modest positive in America's otherwise shaky fiscal situation. S&P called new tariff revenue "robust" and said it has the potential to offset other actions likely to worsen the US debt profile. If that helps stabilize US debt relative to the size of the economy at current levels, the US economy might be fine.

The US debt picture is still ugly. Total federal debt recently surpassed $37 trillion. The portion traded by investors in financial markets is equal to about 100% of GDP, an unprecedented level outside of wartime. The tax-cut legislation Trump signed into law in early July will add at least $4 trillion more to the national debt during the next decade.

At current levels, Trump's tariffs could bring in nearly $300 billion per year in new revenue. That would cut the expected annual deficit in 2025 from $1.9 trillion to $1.6 trillion. That's not a huge improvement, but Trump's tariff revenue is still the most substantial new source of federal revenue in years.

Read more: What Trump's tariffs mean for the economy and your wallet

It's also notable that one of the rating agencies has anything positive to say about America's finances, which have been steadily deteriorating since 2001, the last time there was a budget surplus. S&P shocked financial markets in 2011 when it downgraded US creditworthiness from AAA to AA+, the first such downgrade ever. Two other rating agencies, Moody's and Fitch, have also knocked the US out of the top tier since then. S&P rates 11 countries higher than the US, including Canada, Australia, Singapore, and eight European nations.

The US still has unique advantages. S&P notes that the US economy has grown far faster than other advanced economies since the COVID downturn in 2020. Reasons for US outperformance include "strong civic society, political respect for property rights and the rule of law, and success in promoting innovation and new technology." The primacy of the US dollar, which accounts for about 60% of the world's government reserves, is a priceless edge.

Without saying so outright, the S&P analysis includes some stern warnings for Trump. The agency repeatedly cited the Federal Reserve as a unique enabler of stability and prosperity and noted that any interference with that could have dire consequences. America's AA+ rating "could come under pressure if political developments weigh on the strength of American institutions and the effectiveness of long-term policymaking or independence of the Federal Reserve," S&P said. The agency has cited US political dysfunction as a concern before, but the heavy emphasis on Federal Reserve independence is new.

Read more: How much control does the president have over the Fed and interest rates?

Drop Rick Newman a note, take his inflation quiz, or sign up for his newsletter.

That seems an obvious reference to Trump's efforts to browbeat the Fed into sharply cutting interest rates and otherwise gain more control over Fed policymaking. Unlike any other president, Trump has repeatedly berated Fed Chair Jerome Powell and threatened to fire him. Powell and the Fed have so far resisted Trump's pressure campaign, but that could change over time as Powell and other Fed policymakers serve out their terms and Trump nominates replacements.

S&P also referred to the importance of "transparent and timely statistical information" to the dynamism of the US economy. That sounds like an oblique reference to Trump's recent firing of the economist overseeing the jobs report after it showed a startling slowdown in hiring. Trump falsely claimed the data was "rigged" and nominated a partisan replacement who suggested suspending the monthly jobs report. S&P is indicating it would view such a move as credit-negative.

The Trump tariffs remain a risk in themselves. S&P foresees relatively weak GDP growth of 1.7% this year and 1.6% in 2026, down from 2.8% in 2024. That slowdown comes in large part from the added cost and uncertainty of Trump's tariffs, plus a slowdown in labor force growth due to Trump's strict immigration policies. Most forecasters agree that Trump's policies will bring slower growth, with fewer jobs and perhaps higher inflation.

The blessing for Trump and for most Americans is that the US economy is a dynamo that's hard to repress, even with questionable policies. Trump and most other presidents credit themselves for a resilient economy that would do just fine without them, and maybe perform even better.

Rick Newman is a senior columnist for Yahoo Finance. Follow him on Bluesky and X: @rickjnewman.

Click here for political news related to business and money policies that will shape tomorrow's stock prices.

Read the latest financial and business news from Yahoo Finance