The Supreme Court held that a state tax on imported goods that were still in the original packaging and not mixed with other goods violated both the imports-exports and the commerce clause.
A Maryland statute required importers of foreign goods to purchase a license. The state claimed that a license tax on the importer was different from a tax on the import itself. By a 6-1 vote, the Supreme Court struck down the law. Chief Justice John Marshall
In 1869 the Court decided that the original packaging rule did not apply to goods moving in interstate commerce. In Michelin Tire Corp. v. Wages
Commerce, regulation of
State taxation
Woodruff v. Parham