360
OCTOBER TERM, 1997
Syllabus
certiorari to the united states court of appeals for the federal circuit
No. 97-372. Argued March 4, 1998—Decided March 31, 1998
The Harbor Maintenance Tax (HMT) obligates exporters, importers, and domestic shippers, 26 U. S. C. § 4461(c)(1), to pay 0.125 percent of the value of the commercial cargo they ship through the Nation's ports, § 4461(a). The HMT is imposed at the time of loading for exports and unloading for other shipments. § 4461(c)(2). It is collected by the Customs Service and deposited in the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund (Fund), from which Congress may appropriate amounts to pay for harbor maintenance and development projects and related expenses. § 9505. Respondent United States Shoe Corporation (U. S. Shoe) paid the HMT for articles the company exported during the period April to June 1994 and then filed a protest with the Customs Service alleging that, to the extent the toll applies to exports, it violates the Export Clause, U. S. Const., Art. I, § 9, cl. 5, which states: "No Tax or Duty shall be laid on Articles exported from any State." The Customs Service responded to U. S. Shoe with a form letter stating that the HMT is a statutorily mandated user fee, not an unconstitutional tax on exports. U. S. Shoe then sued for a refund, asserting that the HMT violates the Export Clause as applied to exports. In granting U. S. Shoe summary judgment, the Court of International Trade (CIT) held that it had jurisdiction under 28 U. S. C. § 1581(i) and that the HMT qualifies as a tax. Rejecting the Government's characterization of the HMT as a user fee, the CIT reasoned that the tax is assessed ad valorem directly upon the value of the cargo itself, not upon any services rendered for the cargo. The Federal Circuit affirmed.
Held:
1. The CIT properly entertained jurisdiction in this case. Section 1581(i)(4) gives that court residual jurisdiction over "any civil action . . . against the United States . . . that arises out of any [federal] law . . . providing for . . . administration and enforcement with respect to the matters referred to in [§ 1581(i)(1)]," which in turn applies to "revenue from imports." This dispute involves such a law. The HMT statute, although applied to exports here, applies equally to imports. That § 1581(i) does not use the word "exports" is hardly surprising in view of the Export Clause, which confines customs duties to imports. More-
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