Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick was standing next to President Donald Trump when he slammed the Supreme Court’s ruling on ‘Liberation Day’ tariffs. The apex court voted 6-3 to strike down the president’s flagship economic move, stating that the 79-year-old had not authorities to levy global tariffs under an emergency law.
However, social media users and commentators quickly focused on Lutnick and his sons, Brandon and Kyle Lutnick, who lead financial services firm Cantor Fitzgerald’s parent company. Several noted that the company could benefit financially, via refunds, from SCOTUS’s ruling.
“If those refunds pay out, every $100 they put in could turn into $300–$500 for Lutnick,” one left-leaning commentator posted on X, platform formerly known as Twitter.
“MAJOR SCANDAL BREAKING: President Trump’s Commerce Sec. Howard Lutnick’s Family Just Made BILLIONS By Betting Against Trump’s Tariffs That Were Written By Their Father! Bottom Line— This Is Next-Level Insider Trading & Another Major Scandal For Lutnick After Lying About His Relationship With Epstein!” far-right radio show host Alex Jones tweeted.
Neither Lutnick nor his sons has commented on the latest accusations yet.
Tariff refunds
The Supreme Court’s decision is focused on tariffs enacted through the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). The Trump administration, in court arguments, said that companies would receive refunds if the tariffs were deemed unlawful. But Friday’s ruling did not address the issue.
Trump said he expected years of litigation on whether to provide refunds. Justice Brett Kavanaugh, the one Trump nominee to side with him, noted the refund process could be a “mess.”
The University of Pennsylvania’s Penn Wharton Budget Model projected that the court decision on tariffs would generate up to $175 billion in refunds.
California Governor Gavin Newsom, who is widely expected to seek the Democratic presidential nomination in the 2028 election to succeed Trump, said Americans deserved refunds from the “illegal cash grab.”
“Every dollar unlawfully taken must be refunded immediately – with interest. Cough up!”
Howard Lutnick and Cantor Fitzgerald
Lutnick previously served as CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald before taking on the Secretary of Commerce office. His sons now hold senior roles at Cantor Fitzgerald and its parent company.
Brandon Lutnick serves as chairman, and Kyle Lutnick is executive vice chairman.
Wired reported last year that ‘Traders at the firm’s investment banking subsidiary, Cantor Fitzgerald & Co., say they have the capacity to buy the rights to hundreds of millions of dollars in potential refunds from companies that have paid Trump’s tariffs’.
While Lutnick has publicly supported Trump’s tariffs, Wired cited a letter showing a Cantor rep saying the firm was willing to trade tariff refund rights for 20 to 30 percent of the duties companies have paid.
“So for a company that paid $10 million, they could expect to receive $2-$3 million in a trade. We have the capacity to trade up to several hundred million of these presently and can likely upsize that in the future to meet potential demand,” the representative wrote, per Wired.
“We’ve already put a trade through representing about ~$10 million of IEEPA Rights and anticipate that number will balloon in the coming weeks,” the letter further added.
A spokesperson for Cantor Fitzgerald said at the time: “Cantor is not in the business of positioning any risk or taking views in litigation claims, including tariffs.”
