Article I, Section 10, Clause 2:

No State shall, without the Consent of the Congress, lay any Imposts or Duties on Imports or Exports, except what may be absolutely necessary for executing it’s inspection Laws: and the net Produce of all Duties and Imposts, laid by any State on Imports or Exports, shall be for the Use of the Treasury of the United States; and all such Laws shall be subject to the Revision and Controul of the Congress.

The Supreme Court has interpreted the Import-Export Clause’s final phrase— “except what may be absolutely necessary for executing it’s inspection Laws” —relatively rarely. However, the Court has upheld the constitutionality of charges for inspecting tobacco when the charges incurred were for services rendered, and when the challenged law’s objective was to ensure the product’s quality.1 The Court has also suggested in dicta that whether an inspection charge is excessive “might be for congress to determine, and not the courts.” 2

Footnotes

1

Turner v. Maryland, 107 U.S. 38, 54 (1883).

2

Patapsco Guano Co. v. Bd. of Agric., 171 U.S. 345, 350–51 (1898).