364
Opinion of the Court
to the extent it applies to exports. The Customs Service responded with a form letter stating that the HMT is a statutorily mandated fee assessment on port users, not an unconstitutional tax on exports. On November 3, 1994, U. S. Shoe brought this action against the Government in the Court of International Trade (CIT). The company sought a refund on the ground that the HMT is unconstitutional as applied to exports.
Sitting as a three-judge court, the CIT held that its jurisdiction was properly invoked under 28 U. S. C. § 1581(i); on the merits, the CIT agreed with U. S. Shoe that the HMT qualifies as a tax. 907 F. Supp. 408 (1995). Rejecting the Government's characterization of the HMT as a user fee rather than a tax, the CIT reasoned: "The Tax is assessed ad valorem directly upon the value of the cargo itself, not upon any services rendered for the cargo . . . . Congress could not have imposed the Tax any closer to exportation, or more immediate to the articles exported." Id., at 418. Relying on the Export Clause, the CIT entered summary judgment for U. S. Shoe.
The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, sitting as a five-judge panel, affirmed. 114 F. 3d 1564 (1997). On auxiliary questions, the Federal Circuit upheld the CIT's exercise of jurisdiction under § 1581(i) and agreed with the lower court that the HMT applied to goods in export transit.1 Concluding that the HMT is not based on a fair approximation of port use, the Federal Circuit also agreed that the HMT imposes a tax, not a user fee. In making this determination, the Court of Appeals emphasized that the HMT does not depend on the amount or manner of port use, but is determined solely by the value of cargo. Judge Mayer dissented; in his view, Congress properly designed the HMT as a user fee, a toll on shippers that supplies funds not for the
1 The Government does not here challenge the determination that the HMT applies to goods in export transit.
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