848
MACHINES CORP.
Opinion of the Court
ated." Cornell, supra, at 427. Pace, Turpin, and Cornell made clear that nondiscriminatory pre-exportation assessments do not violate the Export Clause, even if the goods are eventually exported.
At the same time we were defining a domain within which nondiscriminatory taxes could permissibly be imposed on goods intended for export, we were also making clear that the Export Clause strictly prohibits any tax or duty, discriminatory or not, that falls on exports during the course of exportation. See Fairbank v. United States, 181 U. S. 283 (1901); United States v. Hvoslef, 237 U. S. 1 (1915); Thames & Mersey Marine Ins. Co. v. United States, supra. In Fairbank, for example, we addressed a federal stamp tax on bills of lading for export shipments imposed by the War Revenue Act of 1898. The Court found that the tax was facially discriminatory, 181 U. S., at 290, and, though not directly imposed on the goods being exported, the tax was nevertheless "in effect a duty on the article transported," id., at 294. Consequently, the tax fell directly into the category of forbidden taxes on exports defined in Turpin. In striking down the tax, we said:
"The requirement of the Constitution is that exports should be free from any governmental burden. The language is 'no tax or duty.' Whether such provision is or is not wise is a question of policy with which the courts have nothing to do. We know historically that it was one of the compromises which entered into and made possible the adoption of the Constitution. It is a restriction on the power of Congress . . . ." 181 U. S., at 290.
Hvoslef and Thames & Mersey differed from Fairbank in that the taxes imposed in those cases—on ship charters and marine insurance, respectively—did not facially discriminate against exports. The Court nonetheless prohibited the application of those generally applicable, nondiscriminatory
Page: Index Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 NextLast modified: October 4, 2007