It Wasn’t a Big Business that Took on the Tariffs
While the corporations paid their tariffs and went along, the lead plaintiff in the Court of International Trade case is a wine importer with 20 employees. Meanwhile, Trump’s team looks for a Plan B.
Good Morning!
Here are today’s highlights:
Lou Mosca talks about how to get the most out of your morning huddle.
Vermont’s farmers thought they wanted stricter immigration controls.
If this beloved family business can’t govern itself peacefully, what hope is there for other family businesses?
Could your youngest employees use some etiquette training?
THE TRADE WARS
How a small wine importer beat the tariffs (pending appeal): “Victor Owen Schwartz was preparing linguine and clams for dinner Wednesday night when he spotted an email from his lawyers with some good news. ‘I wasn’t shocked,’ said Schwartz. ‘I thought we were right, but I know that’s not always the way the world works.’ Schwartz, a small wine importer and distributor, is the lead plaintiff in a lawsuit that was filed in April by the Liberty Justice Center, a libertarian legal group, to challenge President Trump’s tariffs. The email told him that a federal court had ruled in his favor and invalidated almost all of Trump’s tariffs. ‘This is really a win for small business in America and the right of free trade,’ Schwartz said.”
“An unhappy banker, Schwartz started his business, VOS Selections, 39 years ago after working for five years as a commercial lender. His New York City company imports wines, sakes, and spirits from small producers in 16 countries. European wines account for the bulk of sales.”
“He was introduced to Ilya Somin, a George Mason University constitutional law professor and co-counsel in the case, by a family member who had been a student of Somin’s. The professor had written a February post on the blog Volokh Conspiracy calling the tariffs unconstitutional. Lawyers at the Liberty Justice Center had reached out to him to help bring a case.”
“‘We are importers. We are canaries in the coal mine, on the front line of this issue,’ said Schwartz, who started as a two-person operation and now has about 20 employees. His firm sells to restaurants, small liquor stores and big chains such as Total Wine. Schwartz said he was nervous about the political repercussions of challenging the Trump administration but decided to go ahead anyway. ‘If I didn’t do it, who is going to do it?’ he said. ‘It was not a political decision. It was a business decision.’” READ MORE
