Article 1, Section 10, Paragraph 3
No State shall, without the Consent of Congress, lay any Duty of Tonnage, keep Troops, or Ships of War in time of Peace, enter into any Agreement or Compact with another State, or with a foreign Power, or engage in War, unless actually invaded, or in such imminent Danger as will not admit of delay.
State Duty of Tonnage
States were to give up certain rights so that there could be continuity within the United States. One right was to charge a fee per ton of cargo, unless Congress approved of it. Weight fees are charged by shipping industries to pay for the added costs of transporting heavier weights. The government does not need to tax the weight, because this is an irrelevant tax. The government does charge a vehicle fuel tax and a vehicle weight tax to fund the building of roads and repairs.
Weight duties unfairly target heavy materials, and can cause their use to become prohibitive. Examples of heavy things are metals, stone, concrete, paper, etc. Other light-weight items like cotton, insulation, potato chips, gasses, etc. would be transported freely. Import duties are used to cover the cost of the government running inspections and to make sure that foreign countries do not flood our country with cheap imports that will damage certain industries in our nation.
Port fees for pilotage, towage, loading and unloading, wharfage and storage are not included in this prohibition, because these are actual expenses that must be covered, along with lighthouses and warning systems.
These issues exist today, but will not be an issue under God’s Kingdom. There will not be any more seas, and donkeys and oxen should provide the transportation.
Revelation 21:1, "And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea."
Zechariah 9:9, "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass."
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