While Big Corporations Stayed Quiet, 1 Wine Merchant Took On Trump Tariffs

Victor Schwartz keeps a bottle of Chateauneuf-du-Pape for special occasions. On Friday, he finally opened it. Not because of a vintage milestone, but because he beat the President of the United States in court.

When Donald Trump announced plans last year to raise US tariffs, most CEOs stayed quiet. The risks of opposing him were high. Billions of dollars were on the line.

Schwartz, owner of VOS Selections, a small New York wine importer, decided to step forward.

“It was one thing to join the case, but then to be the lead plaintiff really gave me pause,” he told CNN after the Supreme Court ruled in his favour.

He became the public face of a fight few wanted to touch. After a family member connected him with the Liberty Justice Center, a libertarian-leaning nonprofit law firm, Schwartz agreed to lead the challenge against Trump's sweeping emergency tariffs. The firm had talked to dozens of small businesses before selecting him.

With corporate America largely on the sidelines, Schwartz said he felt like the “last line of defence” against what he saw as a dangerous overreach of executive power.

On April 14, 2025, the case VOS Selections, Inc v Trump was filed. It would later merge with lawsuits from 12 states and Learning Resources, a company that supplies educational materials.

The fight came with real costs. Schwartz imports wine and spirits from 16 countries. When Trump threatened a 50 per cent tariff on European products last year, Schwartz was forced to reprice and rethink his business strategy multiple times.

“The economic environment now, especially in my industry, certainly is very unhealthy,” he said. “We had to go through every item in our book over since ‘Liberation Day,' I think, at least four times.”

“We can't just raise our prices, and we just can't pay it, unlike big companies that can just write a check,” he added. Since April, he estimates he's paid at least six figures in tariffs.

The Supreme Court ruling could mean refunds totalling at least $134 billion for importers. Schwartz isn't counting on it just yet the process will be complicated, and Trump has already imposed new tariffs under a separate law.

“We try to tamp down our fear but still recognise the challenges of what's out there,” Schwartz said.

Taking on Trump was not without danger. Corporations like Amazon felt the pressure when they attempted to show how tariffs affected prices. After a conversation with Trump, they backed down.

For Schwartz, support came from small businesses across the country. Rick Woldenberg, CEO of Learning Resources, shared the same burden.

“The math was simple: I could not afford the tax that they wanted to hit me with,” Woldenberg told CNN. “I wanted my name in this lawsuit. I didn't do anything wrong.”

He, unlike Schwartz, covered his own legal costs seven figures.

Legal experts say many companies stay out of these fights because the president can grant exceptions or threaten retaliation. Large corporations often “sit back and wait” for the outcome.

Schwartz doesn't mind that others benefited from his risk.

“So it takes a little match to start the fire. Okay, I'll take that. I'm not going to feel badly about that. I'm going to feel proud about that,” he said.

After the Supreme Court ruling, Schwartz's office doors remain locked. Emails and texts still pour in. But he can finally raise a glass, not just to wine, but to a rare legal victory against the most powerful man in the world.