Hawaii Cruise Ship Tax Case Appears to Hang on Threshold Issues

A Ninth Circuit panel considering whether Hawaii’s new fee on cruise ships violates federal law mostly focused Monday on questions about standing and jurisdiction, signaling that it may not reach the merits of the case.

A cruise ship trade association and the federal government want the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit to overturn a trial court’s denial of their twin motions for a preliminary injunction barring the state from enforcing the fee enacted to offset the industry’s environmental impacts.

The US Justice Department’s decision to intervene in the case is “unprecedented in the modern era” and is ...