WASHINGTON — American corporations brought back more than $1.04 trillion of overseas profits to the U.S. since Congress passed the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA). The bill overhauled the international tax system and encouraged U.S. companies to bring back offshore profits to the U.S.

The number fell short of the $4 trillion President Donald Trump projected when he pitched the 2017 tax law.

According to the third quarter account deficit report released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), repatriation numbers topped $1.1 billion during the July-to-September period to $124.1 billion.

Investment banks and think tanks have estimated that U.S. corporations held $1.5 trillion to $2.5 trillion in offshore cash at the time the law was enacted, Bloomberg News reports. Before the TCJA, the corporate tax was 35 percent. Companies were incentivized to keep profits overseas to avoid the tax. The new law established a one-time 15.5 percent tax rate on corporate cash and 8 percent on corporate noncash or illiquid assets.