'Tariff Man' Rutnik, in crisis over son's company's alleged 'tariff refund business'

'Tariff Man' Rutnik, in crisis over son's company's alleged 'tariff refund business'

Democrats: "Father advocates for tariffs while son tries to profit from tariff refund business"

Rutnik: "Did not profit." Regarding Epstein allegations: "I will answer at the Oversight Committee hearing."

Allegations were raised in the U.S. Congress on the 23rd (local time) that a company led by the son of U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Rutnik, a 'tariff key man' for President Donald Trump, tried to profit by buying and selling tariff refund rights.

Regarding this, Secretary Rutnik denied, saying, "That is not true."

Secretary Rutnik appeared at a House Appropriations Subcommittee hearing to discuss next year's Department of Commerce budget. When Democratic Representative Madeleine Dean (Pennsylvania) pointed out, "While the Secretary is outside advocating for tariffs, his son found a way to profit by using high tariffs to buy refund rights at a cheap price," he responded as above.

Tariff refund rights refer to the right of companies to get back tariffs already paid to the U.S. government following a Supreme Court ruling that the tariffs were illegal.

Prior to the Supreme Court ruling in February, media reports emerged that Cantor Fitzgerald, Secretary Rutnik's former company now led by his son, was promoting a product that involved pre-purchasing refund rights and paying 20-30% of the refund amount to the companies that sold them.

In this regard, Democratic lawmakers raised suspicions that while Secretary Rutnik advocated for tariff policies, his son tried to sell products that could generate profit in the event of a tariff illegality ruling.

Secretary Rutnik held up a printed copy of a news article, saying, "You know that's not true."

He then added, "Here's a related report. I want to put it on the record," stating that the article said, "Secretary Rutnik's former company did not actually profit from the Supreme Court's tariff ruling."

Representative Dean then urged, "I hope the Secretary recognizes how fundamentally wrong and corrupt this matter is," and "Take responsibility and uphold the minimum duty of resigning before being dismissed."

Democratic lawmakers also intensely questioned Secretary Rutnik about the allegations related to the late billionaire sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, but Secretary Rutnik avoided answering that day, stating he would respond at the House Oversight Committee hearing scheduled for early next month.

Previously, Secretary Rutnik stated he had no contact with Epstein after 2005, but subsequent Department of Justice Epstein documents revealed that their relationship continued, including a visit to Epstein's private island in 2012.

When Representative Grace Meng (D-NY) asked why he lied, Secretary Rutnik said, "I have agreed to answer all questions on this matter to House members in less than two weeks," adding, "There's nothing to hide, and I'm happy to answer."

When Representative Dean then asked, "Is President Donald Trump concerned about your relationship with Epstein?", Secretary Rutnik replied, "I will not comment on my conversations with the President."

Since last month, President Trump has successively dismissed three cabinet members (Homeland Security, Justice, Labor), causing controversy or removing underperforming officials. Amidst this, some American media outlets are speculating that Secretary Rutnik could be the next target.