Whitney v. Robertson

Summary

The Court held that the Dominican Republic treaty's promise against discriminatory duties did not require Dominican sugars to receive the special duty-free treatment granted to Hawaiian sugars in exchange for reciprocal concessions. It also held that a later, generally applicable congressional duty law controls any inconsistent self-executing treaty provision, leaving the plaintiffs without a judicial remedy for the alleged treaty violation. The judgment sustaining the demurrer and rejecting the duty-recovery action was affirmed.