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The Age
4 days ago
- Business
- The Age
How Victor took on the US president – and blew up Trump's plans to tax the world
A global business V.O.S. Selections has 19 employees and imports wines, spirits and sakes from 16 countries, including Italy, France and South Africa. Trump's tariffs would leave the company unable to plan import orders, and its relationships with wholesale customers and farmers who produce wine would suffer, Schwartz said in a declaration to the trade court. Loading Eventually, he wrote, the business could become untenable. 'We have to come up with this cash flow somehow. That's not a little bit of money – that's thousands and thousands of dollars on each container,' Schwartz said. 'It's not a small thing. It's not easy. You can't absorb it if you're a small company.' And the wine his company imports is valuable in part because of the characteristics imparted by growing certain grape varietals in specific areas. 'A popular wine like chianti cannot be replicated domestically because the raw ingredients only exist in that specific geographical location in Tuscany, Italy, and the wine can only be raised in the specific climate of that place to produce the qualities that a customer seeks when buying a bottle of said wine,' Schwartz said in his court filing. The broader wine industry has similar concerns. The National Association of Wine Retailers urged the Trump administration to reconsider the sweeping tariffs in an April statement, noting that wine importers, wine wholesalers, wine retailers and domestic wine producers would suffer 'significant revenue reductions, lay-offs, and business closings'. But in its filing to the Court of International Trade, which has exclusive jurisdictional authority over such disputes, the Trump administration called the claims of harm 'speculative', writing that they only show the 'possibility' of future economic loss. The government argued that Trump has the authority to impose broad tariffs on imported goods under the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act to reverse trade deficits it sees as a national emergency. They said the law's language authorising the president to 'regulate … importation' granted him full powers over tariff rates. But the trade court's three-judge panel disagreed: 'The court does not read IEEPA to confer such unbounded authority,' the judges wrote in their decision on Wednesday, adding that the administration's justifications failed to meet the law's requirement that it be used to 'deal with an unusual and extraordinary threat'. Unexpected costs loom Earlier this year, Schwartz was connected to the Liberty Justice Centre, a nonpartisan group in Austin, Texas, after sharing the tariffs' impact on his business with his nephew's former law professor, Ilya Somin, who is also co-counsel on the case before the Court of International Trade. When Schwartz was asked if he wanted to become the lead plaintiff in the lawsuit, he discussed the decision with his family. They convinced him he needed to take the leap. 'Everyone is very afraid of this person, so no one will step up,' Schwartz said of Trump. 'I can't complain about other people not stepping up. It was right at my plate, and I had to do it.' But the effect of Trump's tariffs extends far beyond the wine industry, including to clothing brands such as Terry Precision Cycling, a business that specialises in women's cycling attire and is a co-plaintiff in the lawsuit. The Vermont-based brand imports fabrics and finished goods from several countries, including Guatemala, China and the Philippines. It paid $25,000 in unplanned tariffs in 2025 and expects to pay an additional $250,000 in tariffs by the end of the year, according to court documents. Terry Precision Cycling will face an estimated $1.2 million in tariff costs in 2026 – 'which it will not be able to pay'. That sentiment is reflected across nearly a dozen small businesses spanning the clothing, gaming and mechanical industries that filed a brief in support of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit. All but one directly import goods from abroad, and some have already paid additional tariffs under Trump's trade war policy. The companies said that 'sudden and dramatic increases in tariff amounts, together with the uncertainty of an ever-changing policy, threaten immediate and existential harm' to their continued operation. They added that tariffs made it 'all but impossible to plan', and that switching to fully domestic manufacturing would 'take many years'. The court decisions this week have provoked strong reactions from the White House. Shortly after the trade court blocked the new tariffs, Trump adviser Stephen Miller wrote on X, 'We are living under a judicial tyranny.' Loading Trump celebrated the temporary stay delivered by the federal appeals court on Thursday (Friday AEST) in a post on Truth Social, calling the tariffs 'desperately needed', and calling the trade court 'so wrong, and so political!' The appeals court is expected to issue a ruling on whether to pause the tariffs while it hears the case some time within the next two weeks, Liberty Justice Centre senior counsel and interim director of litigation Jeffrey Schwab said.
Sydney Morning Herald
4 days ago
- Business
- Sydney Morning Herald
How Victor took on the US president – and blew up Trump's plans to tax the world
A global business V.O.S. Selections has 19 employees and imports wines, spirits and sakes from 16 countries, including Italy, France and South Africa. Trump's tariffs would leave the company unable to plan import orders, and its relationships with wholesale customers and farmers who produce wine would suffer, Schwartz said in a declaration to the trade court. Loading Eventually, he wrote, the business could become untenable. 'We have to come up with this cash flow somehow. That's not a little bit of money – that's thousands and thousands of dollars on each container,' Schwartz said. 'It's not a small thing. It's not easy. You can't absorb it if you're a small company.' And the wine his company imports is valuable in part because of the characteristics imparted by growing certain grape varietals in specific areas. 'A popular wine like chianti cannot be replicated domestically because the raw ingredients only exist in that specific geographical location in Tuscany, Italy, and the wine can only be raised in the specific climate of that place to produce the qualities that a customer seeks when buying a bottle of said wine,' Schwartz said in his court filing. The broader wine industry has similar concerns. The National Association of Wine Retailers urged the Trump administration to reconsider the sweeping tariffs in an April statement, noting that wine importers, wine wholesalers, wine retailers and domestic wine producers would suffer 'significant revenue reductions, lay-offs, and business closings'. But in its filing to the Court of International Trade, which has exclusive jurisdictional authority over such disputes, the Trump administration called the claims of harm 'speculative', writing that they only show the 'possibility' of future economic loss. The government argued that Trump has the authority to impose broad tariffs on imported goods under the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act to reverse trade deficits it sees as a national emergency. They said the law's language authorising the president to 'regulate … importation' granted him full powers over tariff rates. But the trade court's three-judge panel disagreed: 'The court does not read IEEPA to confer such unbounded authority,' the judges wrote in their decision on Wednesday, adding that the administration's justifications failed to meet the law's requirement that it be used to 'deal with an unusual and extraordinary threat'. Unexpected costs loom Earlier this year, Schwartz was connected to the Liberty Justice Centre, a nonpartisan group in Austin, Texas, after sharing the tariffs' impact on his business with his nephew's former law professor, Ilya Somin, who is also co-counsel on the case before the Court of International Trade. When Schwartz was asked if he wanted to become the lead plaintiff in the lawsuit, he discussed the decision with his family. They convinced him he needed to take the leap. 'Everyone is very afraid of this person, so no one will step up,' Schwartz said of Trump. 'I can't complain about other people not stepping up. It was right at my plate, and I had to do it.' But the effect of Trump's tariffs extends far beyond the wine industry, including to clothing brands such as Terry Precision Cycling, a business that specialises in women's cycling attire and is a co-plaintiff in the lawsuit. The Vermont-based brand imports fabrics and finished goods from several countries, including Guatemala, China and the Philippines. It paid $25,000 in unplanned tariffs in 2025 and expects to pay an additional $250,000 in tariffs by the end of the year, according to court documents. Terry Precision Cycling will face an estimated $1.2 million in tariff costs in 2026 – 'which it will not be able to pay'. That sentiment is reflected across nearly a dozen small businesses spanning the clothing, gaming and mechanical industries that filed a brief in support of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit. All but one directly import goods from abroad, and some have already paid additional tariffs under Trump's trade war policy. The companies said that 'sudden and dramatic increases in tariff amounts, together with the uncertainty of an ever-changing policy, threaten immediate and existential harm' to their continued operation. They added that tariffs made it 'all but impossible to plan', and that switching to fully domestic manufacturing would 'take many years'. The court decisions this week have provoked strong reactions from the White House. Shortly after the trade court blocked the new tariffs, Trump adviser Stephen Miller wrote on X, 'We are living under a judicial tyranny.' Loading Trump celebrated the temporary stay delivered by the federal appeals court on Thursday (Friday AEST) in a post on Truth Social, calling the tariffs 'desperately needed', and calling the trade court 'so wrong, and so political!' The appeals court is expected to issue a ruling on whether to pause the tariffs while it hears the case some time within the next two weeks, Liberty Justice Centre senior counsel and interim director of litigation Jeffrey Schwab said.
USA Today
09-04-2025
- Business
- USA Today
Imported wine prices set to surge as new Trump tariffs shake up small businesses
Imported wine prices set to surge as new Trump tariffs shake up small businesses Show Caption Hide Caption Atlanta wine store owner braces for Trump tariffs Adam Williams, owner of Ansley Wine Merchants in Atlanta, Georgia said, 'A 20 percent increase on European wines is huge, because European wines are about 80 or so percent of the wine in the store." Adam Williams, 57, owner of Ansley Wine Merchants in Atlanta, said he was bracing for the worst on Wednesday, as President Donald Trump's tariffs are set to kick in, which will spike costs of the imported wines and liquors he sells. "That means everything will go up," he said, including the customer favorite, a 2023 vintage Sancerre from France which can cost $45. The Trump Administration has said it will institute a 20% tariff on goods from the European Union, which would cause the price of a bottle of wine to surge past what a casual customer would pay. Tariffs hit small business: Kentucky's $9 billion bourbon industry caught in the crossfire of Trump trade war Other wine merchants are worried too. The National Association of Wine Retailers in a statement released over the weekend said it expected "significant revenue reductions, layoffs, and business closings." The U.S. imports more wine from the European Union than any other part of the world, led by France and Italy. Sales of French wine and spirits could drop by at least 20% when the tariffs go into place, the French wine and spirits exporters FEVS said last week. The National Association of Wine Retailers, a U.S. trade group, said any hope for tariffs spurring sales of domestic wines "is misplaced. When faced with the higher prices that will result from the across-the-board tariffs, consumers will rein in their spending. The first thing they cut back on is non-essential items like wine." Williams has 1,500 different labels and has tasted them all, and most of his stock comes from overseas. "I haven't started losing sleep yet, but maybe I should be already," Williams said. "I just don't know how bad this is going to be, but 90 percent of my labels are from overseas, France, Italy. All from small family-owned vineyards. Small producers. Not the mass-produced grocery store wines." He said there have been hardly any new shipments from overseas because distributors and importers are in "wait-and-see" mode. If the tariffs hit like he thinks, he said, "I'm not sure what will happen. I have eight employees who are like family. I have to look out for them. But what's going to happen here, I don't know." "But I won't sell mass-produced wine," he said. "The bottom line is, prices are going up," said Ryan Stanton, general manager of a mid-sized wine importing company, Ultimate Wine Distributors, based in Atlanta. "Buy America is great in theory, but there are a lot of things that we don't and can't make in America," he said. "We have a lot of wine ready to set sail in France, but it's just parked there as everyone waits to see what happens. It's in negotiations. We're waiting for the dust to settle," he said. Reporting by Rich McKay in Atlanta; Editing by David Gregorio
Yahoo
08-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
US wine sellers worry as Trump tariffs set to hit Wednesday
By Rich McKay NEW YORK (Reuters) - Adam Williams, 57, owner of Ansley Wine Merchants in Atlanta, said he was bracing for the worst on Wednesday, as President Donald Trump's tariffs are set to kick in, which will spike costs of the imported wines and liquors he sells. "That means everything will go up," he said, including the customer favorite, a 2023 vintage Sancerre from France which can cost $45. The Trump Administration has said it will institute a 20% tariff on goods from the European Union, which would cause the price of a bottle of wine to surge past what a casual customer would pay. Other wine merchants are worried too. The National Association of Wine Retailers in a statement released over the weekend said it expected "significant revenue reductions, layoffs, and business closings." The U.S. imports more wine from the European Union than any other part of the world, led by France and Italy. Sales of French wine and spirits could drop by at least 20% when the tariffs go into place, the French wine and spirits exporters FEVS said last week. The National Association of Wine Retailers, a U.S. trade group, said any hope for tariffs spurring sales of domestic wines "is misplaced. When faced with the higher prices that will result from the across-the-board tariffs, consumers will rein in their spending. The first thing they cut back on is non-essential items like wine." Williams has 1,500 different labels and has tasted them all, and most of his stock comes from overseas. "I haven't started losing sleep yet, but maybe I should be already," Williams said. "I just don't know how bad this is going to be, but 90 percent of my labels are from overseas, France, Italy. All from small family-owned vineyards. Small producers. Not the mass-produced grocery store wines." He said there have been hardly any new shipments from overseas because distributors and importers are in "wait-and-see" mode. If the tariffs hit like he thinks, he said, "I'm not sure what will happen. I have eight employees who are like family. I have to look out for them. But what's going to happen here, I don't know. "But I won't sell mass-produced wine," he said. "The bottom line is, prices are going up," said Ryan Stanton, general manager of a mid-sized wine importing company, Ultimate Wine Distributors, based in Atlanta. "Buy America is great in theory, but there are a lot of things that we don't and can't make in America," he said. "We have a lot of wine ready to set sail in France, but it's just parked there as everyone waits to see what happens. It's in negotiations. We're waiting for the dust to settle," he said. Sign in to access your portfolio
Reuters
08-04-2025
- Business
- Reuters
US wine sellers worry as Trump tariffs set to hit Wednesday
NEW YORK, April 8 (Reuters) - Adam Williams, 57, owner of Ansley Wine Merchants in Atlanta, said he was bracing for the worst on Wednesday, as President Donald Trump's tariffs are set to kick in, which will spike costs of the imported wines and liquors he sells. "That means everything will go up," he said, including the customer favorite, a 2023 vintage Sancerre from France which can cost $45. The Trump Administration has said it will institute a 20% tariff on goods from the European Union, which would cause the price of a bottle of wine to surge past what a casual customer would pay. Other wine merchants are worried too. The National Association of Wine Retailers in a statement released over the weekend said it expected "significant revenue reductions, layoffs, and business closings." The U.S. imports more wine from the European Union than any other part of the world, led by France and Italy. Sales of French wine and spirits could drop by at least 20% when the tariffs go into place, the French wine and spirits exporters FEVS said last week. The National Association of Wine Retailers, a U.S. trade group, said any hope for tariffs spurring sales of domestic wines "is misplaced. When faced with the higher prices that will result from the across-the-board tariffs, consumers will rein in their spending. The first thing they cut back on is non-essential items like wine." Williams has 1,500 different labels and has tasted them all, and most of his stock comes from overseas. "I haven't started losing sleep yet, but maybe I should be already," Williams said. "I just don't know how bad this is going to be, but 90 percent of my labels are from overseas, France, Italy. All from small family-owned vineyards. Small producers. Not the mass-produced grocery store wines." He said there have been hardly any new shipments from overseas because distributors and importers are in "wait-and-see" mode. If the tariffs hit like he thinks, he said, "I'm not sure what will happen. I have eight employees who are like family. I have to look out for them. But what's going to happen here, I don't know. "But I won't sell mass-produced wine," he said. "The bottom line is, prices are going up," said Ryan Stanton, general manager of a mid-sized wine importing company, Ultimate Wine Distributors, based in Atlanta. "Buy America is great in theory, but there are a lot of things that we don't and can't make in America," he said. "We have a lot of wine ready to set sail in France, but it's just parked there as everyone waits to see what happens. It's in negotiations. We're waiting for the dust to settle," he said.
