CNN: Big business sits out the Supreme Court fight over Donald Trump’s tariffs
“I was shocked that those with much more power and money did not step up,” said Victor Owen Schwartz, the founder of V.O.S. Selections, the wine and spirits company that is one of the lead plaintiffs in the litigation.
“So when I was afforded the opportunity to speak for small American business, I took it.”
USA Today: Trump says his tariffs will help American businesses. So why are they suing?
“These tariffs threatened the very existence of small businesses like mine, making it difficult to survive, let alone grow,” Victor Owen Schwartz, who founded his wine and spirits import business nearly 40 years ago with his mother, said of his decision to take on the president. “I was shocked that those with much more power and money did not step up.”
Drinking on the Job Episode 294: Wine Importer VOS Selections vs President Trump in Supreme Court
MSNBC Chris Jansing Reports: Supreme Court to decide whether Trump’s tariffs are legal
NPR Business: Most of President Trump’s tariffs are illegal, U.S. court rules
WNYC Brian Lehrer Show: Chloë Syrah Schwartz Interviewed
The Indicator from Planet Money: The Legal case for – and against – Trump’s tariffs
CNN News Central: Victor Owen Schwartz Interviewed
Defending American small businesses from unlawful tariffs isn’t a partisan play—it’s a constitutional one.
WATCH: LJC’s @JeffreyMSchwab and Victor Schwartz of @VOS_SELECTIONS discuss the latest in our legal challenge⬇️ pic.twitter.com/aD7hdR8pRb
— Liberty Justice Center (@LJCenter) August 4, 2025
BBC News – US announces tariffs on dozens of countries
NO president has the constitutional authority to single-handedly impose taxes on the American people. That power belongs to Congress.
MORE from LJC’s Reilly Stephens and client Victor Schwartz on @BBCnews pic.twitter.com/li1c09UuA3
— Liberty Justice Center (@LJCenter) August 4, 2025
Sydney Morning Herald – ‘I think we’re going to win’: The dad-daughter duo taking on Trump’s tariffs in court
“Schwartz is furious when he hears Trump claim it is the other countries that are forced to pay his tariffs, even though those countries do potentially suffer from their producers selling fewer products. He knows it is te American importers who pay. ‘‘I feel outraged that a quote-unquote ‘businessman’ doesn’t know the reality of business,’’ Schwartz says. ‘‘The fact is that every single economist looks at this and says: ‘Of course that’s not true’. The people who are paying are me and my colleagues. No countries are paying.’’” – Michael Koziol
Financial Times – US businesses suing Trump over tariffs say trade pacts ‘hardly relief’
“Have you ever had a tax get quintupled overnight? – Victor Schwartz”
Bloomberg TV – Wall Street Week – Wine Woes as President Trump’s Tariffs Loom
“A planned 30% US tariff on EU wines could hike prices, slash choice, and force layoffs across America’s wine trade. The US wine industry warns that distributors who rely on European bottles for most of their revenue would collapse, hurting domestic winemakers and vintners too. While some California grape growers hope the tariffs will level the playing field for US winemakers, importers and retailers are skeptical that protectionism is the long-term solution. Critics say tariffs won’t fix oversupply or falling demand and would instead shrink the entire U.S. wine ecosystem.”
Cato Institute’s Free Society Magazine: How One Man’s Passion for French Wine Sparked a Challenge to Trump’s “Emergency” Tariffs
“While VOS Selections is still a small family-run business, it’s also a grand testament to the way free trade enriches both Americans and the rest of the world. Through just one company, Americans have access to dozens of fine sakes from across Japan; hundreds of wines sourced from the Mediterranean coast to Central Europe; and an assortment of spirits crafted in places as varied as Lebanon and New Zealand. It’s a luxury that would’ve been unimaginable by even the greatest emperors of millennia past.” – Paul Best
Business Insider: Trump’s tariffs could sink my small business, but my lawsuit against these tariffs has been keeping me energized
“I stepped up because bigger players won’t…It seems that I have really struck a chord. I guess most lawsuits, in a certain sense, are just you looking out for yourself. But with my case, I just feel like we are trying to do something that’s going to help a lot of people, and that is very empowering.” – Victor Schwartz
BFM Business: Ce marchand de vin a fait annuler les droits de douane de Trump
View this post on Instagram
Italian Wine Podcast: Juliana Colangelo interviews Victor Owen Schwartz of VOS Selections
National Review: Striking Down Tariffs: A ‘Coup’ Prevented, Not Attempted
“Rejecting unilateral presidential tariffs was not an act of judicial activism by the U.S. Court of International Trade. It was a defense of the Constitution’s separation of powers.
MSNBC Chris Jansing Reports: Wine importer sues Trump over tariffs, saying president ‘doesn’t have the authority’
Cornellians: ‘Wine Is Not Fungible’: How an Alum’s Firm Made Global Headlines
“Why were you willing not only to participate in this lawsuit, but become the lead plaintiff?
There was really no option. I mean, we’re all sitting around complaining about people not stepping up, and here was an opportunity to do something—to put my money where my mouth is. I knew there were risks involved, but I felt I had to do it.” – Beth Saulnier
Wine Spectator: Meet the Family-Owned Wine Importer that Might Stymie Trump’s Trade War
Corriere della Sera: L’importatore che ha battuto Trump sui dazi
View this post on Instagram
How a tiny wine company’s lawsuit complicated Trump’s tariff plans – The Washington Post
“The appeals court is expected to issue a ruling on whether to pause the tariffs while it hears the case sometime within the next two weeks, said Jeffrey M. Schwab, senior counsel and interim director of litigation at the Liberty Justice Center.
In the meantime, Schwartz told The Post that he’s received encouraging letters from Trump voters and other small business owners — and, he said, even had an Italian wine salesman thank him in person.
“This last decision has brought so much emotion, so much story about tariffs to light,” Schwartz said, “that Trump has lost in the court of public opinion.”” -Angie Orellana Hernandez and Tobi Raji
Aristide Economopoulos for The Washington Post
Canadian Broadcasting Service: Victor Schwartz didn’t go looking for a fight with Trump, but now, he’s the face of the war on tariffs
“I didn’t start my company with the idea of, like, I’m going to sue the president of the United States some day,” Schwartz told CBC News. “That was not my goal in life. I just wanted to bring in really nice wine to sell to people that enjoyed them.”
Yet Schwartz’s company was instrumental in landing a serious legal blow against Trump’s tariff policies on Wednesday, when a court ruled the administration had exceeded its right to impose some of those tariffs and had to stop collecting them.” – Mark Gollom
