Cite as: 517 U. S. 843 (1996)
Opinion of the Court
2
What the Government does argue is that our Import-Export Clause cases require us to overrule Thames & Mersey.5 We have good reason to hesitate before adopting the analysis of our recent Import-Export Clause cases into our Export Clause jurisprudence. Though we have frequently interpreted the Clauses together, see supra, at 852- 854, our more recent Import-Export Clause cases, on which the Government relies, caution that meaningful textual differences exist and should not be overlooked. The Export Clause prohibits Congress from laying any "Tax or Duty" on exports, while the Import-Export Clause prevents the States from laying any "Imposts or Duties" on imports or exports. In both Michelin and Washington Stevedoring, we left open the possibility that a particular state assessment might not properly be called an impost or duty, and thus would be beyond the reach of the Import-Export Clause, while an identical federal assessment might properly be called a tax and would be subject to the Export Clause. Though we found in Michelin that a nondiscriminatory state property tax does not transgress the policy dictates of the Import-Export Clause, we also recognized that the Import-Export Clause is "not written in terms of a broad prohibition of every 'tax,' " and that impost and duty are narrower terms than tax. 423 U. S., at 290-293. In Washington Stevedoring, we likewise rejected the assertion that the Import-Export Clause absolutely prohibits all taxation of imports and exports. 435 U. S., at 759. We said that "the term 'Im-post or Duty' is not self-defining and does not necessarily encompass all taxes" and that the respondents' argument to
ing in Thames & Mersey. We sit not to condemn § 4371, but rather to determine whether it is to be saved by overruling binding precedent.
5 The dissent suggests that we make a "serious mistake" in deciding whether a nondiscriminatory tax on goods violates the Export Clause, post, at 881. We do not agree that it is a mistake to address the arguments actually advanced by the parties.
857
Page: Index Previous 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 NextLast modified: October 4, 2007