The wine industry could be forgiven for popping its collective cork when the US Supreme Court ruled recently that President Trump’s sweeping trade tariffs were illegal. What few perhaps realize is that a small New York-based wine distributor was at the epicenter of the epic legal battle to overthrow Trump’s tariffs. The Italian Wine Podcast has been following the story closely and hearing regularly from those closely involved with this fast-moving and unpredictable situation.
For all the latest developments and insights into the US Wine Market, follow Barbara Fitzgerald and Juliana Colangelo with new episodes dropping every Monday on the Italian Wine Podcast:
Masterclass US Wine Market Series
On 2 April 2025 President Trump introduced the so-called “Liberation Day” tariffs. These sweeping new measures involved a two-tier tariff structure: a baseline 10% tariff applied to imports from all countries not subject to other sanctions, and additional country-specific “reciprocal” tariffs ranging between 11% and 50% for countries with which the U.S. had the greatest trade deficits.
Trump invoked the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to justify the application of these sweeping new tariffs. But, under that law, the President may only invoke emergency economic powers after declaring a national emergency in response to an “unusual and extraordinary threat” to national security, foreign policy, or the U.S. economy originating outside the United States. It wasn’t clear that such an emergency ever existed.
According to CNN, “While corporate America stayed silent, a small wine importer risked his business” to challenge Trump’s sweeping tariffs. Victor Schwartz, the owner of small family-run New York-based wine importer, VOS Selections, became the face of the fight to overturn the tariffs.
Schwartz started his business 40 years ago, importing and distributing wines from small producers from lesser-known regions. Speaking to Sara Danese on the In the Mood for Wine podcast, Schwartz described the tariffs as “an existential threat to mine and many businesses”.
In fact, the lawsuit was filed on behalf of five owner-operated businesses that had been seriously harmed by Trump’s tariffs: V.O.S. Selections, FishUSA, Genova Pipe, MicroKits LLC, and Terry Precision Cycling. They argued that the Administration had no authority to impose across-the-board, worldwide tariffs without congressional approval, and that the Administration’s justification, a trade deficit in goods, was neither an emergency nor an unusual or extraordinary threat.
On 28 May 2025, the U.S. Court of International Trade unanimously ruled that the tariffs were illegal and issued a permanent injunction banning their enforcement. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit temporarily stayed that injunction pending appeal. The case ended up in the U.S. Supreme Court, the highest court in the U.S. judicial system, which heard oral arguments on 5 November 2025.
On 20 February 2026, the Supreme Court issued its landmark decision, ruling that Trump’s sweeping emergency tariffs were illegal. In particular, the Supreme Court ruled that President Trump’s use of IEEPA to impose tariffs was unconstitutional.
It was a landmark ruling, one that perhaps indicates that the American system of checks and balances remains in place, and an important psychological victory that gives the industry a glimmer of hope in these turbulent times.
Trump responded almost immediately by announcing that he would invoke Section 122 of the 1974 Trade Act to impose a new raft of punitive global tariffs. Section 122 allows emergency tariffs of up to 15% for up to 150 days unless Congress extends them.
While the Supreme Court could ultimately strike down this new raft of measures, that legal process would take time.
According to W. Blake Gray of wine-searcher, “the situation is arguably worse than before because nobody knows if these tariffs will last, and what will happen next”.
Meanwhile, the victory for Schwartz could mean that he and other importers are entitled to refunds worth a reported $134 billion. It remains to be seen, however, how any demand for refunds would work in practice.
With three years of his presidential term still remaining, the high levels of turbulence, instability, and policy-driven uncertainty stemming from Trump’s protectionist measures is far from over. wine, because it is terroir-driven and therefore heavily reliant on being traded and imported, is likely to remain in the eye of the storm.
This Friday, the Italian Wine Podcast drops an unmissable conversation in the Masterclass US Wine Market Series: Barbara Fitzgerald in dialogue with Chloë Syrah Schwartz of V.O.S. Selections. Together, they unpack why a family-run wine importer chose to stand at the forefront of a constitutional battle when others stayed silent, how sweeping tariffs disrupt the fragile ecosystem of small wine businesses, and what strategic positioning looks like in a market still clouded by uncertainty. If you want to understand what this landmark ruling really means for importers, producers, and the future of transatlantic wine trade, this is an episode you cannot afford to miss.
The Italian Wine Podcast, which straddles both sides of the Atlantic, is well placed to keep you up to date with all the latest developments.
Follow Barbara Fitzgerald and Juliana Colangelo with new episodes dropping every Monday on the Italian Wine Podcast at:
