DeLima v. Bidwell

DeLima v. Bidwell, 182 U.S. 1 (1901), was one of a group of the first Insular Cases decided by the US Supreme Court.
The case was argued on January 8-11, 1901 and was decided on May 27, 1901.
Background.
The DeLima Sugar Importing Company sued the New York City collector of customs to recover duties on sugar imported from Puerto Rico after 1899, when Puerto Rico was ceded to the United States. DeLima argued that the Port of New York City had no jurisdiction to collect duties since Puerto Rico had been annexed by the United States.
The lower appellate court held the following:
Decision.
The Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that Puerto Rico, since its cession to the United States by the Treaty of Paris (1898), was not a foreign country for the purposes of US tariff laws, which required payment of duties on goods moving into the United States from a foreign country. In the absence of congressional legislation, the US government could not collect customs duties on sugar from Puerto Rico shipped to other parts of the United States by classifying Puerto Rico as a foreign country.
The majority opinion was authored by Justice Henry Billings Brown and joined by Justices Melville Fuller, John Marshall Harlan, Rufus Wheeler Peckham and David Josiah Brewer.
Justice Joseph McKenna authored a dissenting opinion, which was joined by Justices George Shiras, Jr., and Edward Douglass White. Justice Horace Gray authored a separate dissenting opinion.
The decision is similar to "Downes v. Bidwell", 182 U.S. 244 (1901), which was decided on the same date.