Cite as: 520 U. S. 564 (1997)
Thomas, J., dissenting
v. Hall, 512 U. S. 874, 936-937 (1994) (Thomas, J., concurring in judgment). And it is quite possible that, were we to revisit Woodruff, we might find that the Constitution already affords us a textual mechanism with which to address the more egregious of state actions discriminating against interstate commerce.
III
Were we thus to shed ourselves of our nontextual negative Commerce Clause and all the accompanying multifactor balancing tests we have employed, and instead merely apply what appears to me to be the relevant provision of the Constitution, this would seem to be a fairly straightforward case (although I reserve final judgment of the matter for a case when the Import-Export Clause is specifically addressed by the parties). Unlike the Export Clause of Art. I, § 9, which prohibits the Congress from levying any tax on exports, the Import-Export Clause only prohibits States from levying "duties" and "imposts." See International Business Machines, 517 U. S., at 857-858.
The Maine property tax at issue here is almost certainly not an impost, for, as 18th-century usage of the word indicates, an impost was a tax levied on goods at the time of importation. See, e. g., The Observer-No. XII, Connecticut Courant and Weekly Intelligencer, Jan. 7, 1790, p. 1, col. 2 ("[I]mpost is a tax on merchandize, payable at the port of entry"); 19 N. Bailey, An Universal Etymological English Dictionary (26 ed. 1789) (defining "impost" as "a tax or tribute, but more especially such as is received by a prince or state, for goods brought into any haven from other nations"); 20
19 See also Providence Gazette and Country Journal, Feb. 13, 1790, p. 1, col. 1 (reprinting same); Gazette of the United States, Jan. 9, 1790, p. 2, col. 1 (same).
20 See also T. Sheridan, A Complete Dictionary of the English Language (6th ed. 1796) ("Impost . . . A tax; a toll; custom paid"); S. Johnson, A Dictionary of the English Language (7th ed. 1785) ("Impost. A tax; a toll; a custom paid. Taxes and imposts upon merchants do seldom good to the
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