Cite as: 520 U. S. 564 (1997)
Thomas, J., dissenting
worth assessing the Woodruff Court's reasoning with an eye toward reconsidering that decision in an appropriate case.
The Woodruff Court began with a textual argument, contending that the power to levy "imposts" given to Congress in Art. I, § 8, cl. 1, applied only to foreign imports. Such a limited reading of the word "imposts" in that Clause was necessary, the Court claimed, because any other reading would be nonsensical: Goods "imported" by one State from another State, explained the Court, would be an "export" of the State where the goods were produced or grown, and the supposed power given to Congress in Art. I, § 8, to levy an "impost" on such "imports" would be prohibited by the Art. I, § 9, provision that "[n]o Tax or Duty shall be laid on Articles exported from any State." This apparent tension between § 8 and § 9 led the Court to believe that the word "im-posts" in § 8 must be read as applying only to foreign imports in order to avoid a partial negation of the Art. I, § 8, power. The Court then extrapolated from this reading that the word "impost" in Art. I, § 10, similarly had the same limited application to foreign imports. As we have already seen, however, see supra, at 621-623, the word "import" derived its meaning from the jurisdiction into which goods were imported; consequently, it does not necessarily follow that the imports on which Congress was given the power to lay "im-posts" in Art. I, § 8, were identical to the imports and exports on which the several States were prohibited from levying "Imposts or Duties" by Art. I, § 10.12
The Woodruff Court bolstered its textual argument with two further arguments, neither of which appear still to be
12 Even assuming that the word "impost" in the two Clauses applied to the same class of "imports," there is nothing nonsensical in reading "im-post" in Art. I, § 8, as applicable to interstate as well as foreign trade. It is frequently the case that a broad grant of power in one Clause is restricted by another Clause. Moreover, a State could also import goods from a federal territory, and the congressional power to lay an impost on such (nonforeign) trade would not run afoul of the Art. I, § 9, prohibition.
625
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