New York Wine Shop Wins Trade Court Battle Against U.S. Government Over Tariffs
Opinion: A Small Wine Importer Just Took on Trump's Tariffs—and Won
In a surprising and significant legal victory, a small, family-owned wine importer from New York has just done what few thought possible: beat the U.S. government in court over Trump-era tariffs.
VOS Selections, the company at the heart of this case, led a coalition of American businesses to challenge the legality of sweeping tariffs imposed by former President Donald Trump under the guise of emergency economic powers. And they won.
The U.S. Court of International Trade didn’t mince words. In a unanimous ruling, a three-judge panel found that the Trump administration had overreached—violating the very law it claimed to be using, the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). The judges declared the tariffs illegal, permanently vacating them and halting their enforcement.
This wasn’t a minor technicality. It was a direct rebuke of the way Trump wielded executive authority to reshape U.S. trade policy with a stroke of a pen—without meaningful oversight, and with devastating consequences for small businesses.
For VOS Selections, the stakes were high. “These tariffs jeopardize not only our business, but the livelihoods of the family farmers we represent,” the company said. It wasn’t just wine on the line—it was the economic fabric of dozens of agricultural communities, both in the U.S. and abroad.
Now, the court has given the White House 10 days to finish the job and remove most of the tariffs, which were found to be illegally imposed. Many of those duties were already suspended, but the ruling sends a clear message: presidents cannot simply bypass Congress and impose tariffs at will.
Unsurprisingly, the Trump administration has appealed, and the legal fight will now move to higher courts—possibly ones more sympathetic to Trump’s approach. But the initial ruling is a powerful precedent and a reminder of why the courts matter: they are one of the last checks on executive overreach.
This case is about more than wine. It's about how power is exercised—and who pays the price when it’s abused. In this instance, it was small importers, family farmers, and everyday consumers who bore the brunt of a trade war few asked for.
Whether or not the ruling stands on appeal, VOS Selections has already proven something remarkable: you don’t need to be a multinational corporation to stand up to power—you just need the courage to fight back.
