Trump Milks Cash Cows With Tariffs

Trump’s tariff scandal shows that he and his handlers view the American people as nothing but cash cows. 

Anyone with any economic sense knew that tariffs are a hidden tax on the average taxpayer and common person.

An excerpt from, “Trump Secretary Silent as Sons Poised to Make Bank From End of Tariffs” by Hafiz Rashid, The New Republic, February 20, 2026:

The Supreme Court decision striking down Donald Trump’s many tariffs may prove to be a windfall for the family of Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, a key architect of Trump’s signature economic policy.

In July, Wired reported that Cantor Fitzgerald, which Lutnick chaired until he was appointed to Trump’s Cabinet, was allowing its traders to purchase the rights to hundreds of millions of dollars of refunds in the event the tariffs were struck down in court. The firm now happens to be headed by Lutnick’s sons Kyle and Brandon.

The magazine cited a letter from the firm explaining how Cantor Fitzgerald was willing to exchange refund rights for 20 to 30 percent of what the companies paid.

“So for a company that paid $10 million, they could expect to receive $2-$3 million in a trade,” a Cantor Fitzgerald representative wrote. “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.”

An excerpt from, “Trump tariff refunds begin but consumers likely to miss out” by Archie Mitchell, BBC, April 20, 2026:

In what is to be the biggest repayment programme in history, companies can apply online for money they were charged under the so-called “Liberation Day” tariffs – plus interest – to be returned.

The US Court of International Trade in March ordered customs officials to refund the more than $160bn (£121bn) the government had collected, putting roughly 330,000 importers in a position to potentially win back some money.

But some individual consumers, who were hit by the tariffs indirectly through higher prices, are not expected to be compensated.

The refunds relate to levies charged by US President Donald Trump under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA).