[ The United States Supreme Court’s March 31 decisio... ]

The United States Supreme Court’s March 31 decision regarding the har
bor maintenance tax will have little impact on the Port of Long Beach.

The United States Supreme Court’s March 31 decision regarding the har
bor maintenance tax will have little impact on the Port of Long Beach.
The Court ruled that the tax, which is a levy of 12.5 cents on every
$100 of goods moved through U.S. ports, is an unconstitutional tax on
exports.
The tax was imposed by Congress in 1986 as a means of generating funds
for maintenance of federal navigation channels. The Los Angeles Custo
ms district, which represents the ports of Long Beach, Los Angeles and
Hueneme, collects more than $100 million annually from shippers who m
ove cargo through the Southern California ports. Because the Southern
California ports have generally paid for their own deepening and maint
enance dredging projects, they have recieved very little funding from
the tax.