No State Duties on Imports or Exports

                    The topic of discussion for this Constitution Monday comes from 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."  This provision in the United States Constitution gives the responsibilities of supervising and controlling import and export duties to Congress.

                    "It will be recalled that all foreign commerce as well as interstate commerce was placed under the exclusive jurisdiction of the federal government (Article I, section 8, clause 3).  The present provision was to reinforce the position of the federal government and prevent the states from interfering with either interstate or foreign commerce" (W. Cleon Skousen in The Making of America - The Substance and Meaning of the Constitution, p. 502).

                    "A primary concern of the Framers of the Constitution was ending the interstate commercial depredations that had occurred during the Confederation period.  Thus, the Constitution gave Congress the power to regulate interstate, foreign, and Indian commerce.  The Framers also took care to place restrictions on state power under the new government.  Often, the restrictions in Article I, Section 10, mirror the powers granted to Congress.  Evidence from the Constitutional Convention and the ratification debates suggest that the Framers intended the Import-Export Clauses to complement congressional power to raise revenue and regulate interstate commerce by restricting the states' ability to tax commerce entering and leaving their borders" (Brannon P. Denning in The Heritage Guide to the Constitution, pp. 176-177).