Hawaii : Legal battle over the climate tax on cruise ships

In a major legal development on New Year’s Eve, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (by far the largest federal appeals court in the US, with twenty-eight judges) ordered the temporary suspension of Hawaii’s new tourism tax designed to combat climate change, which was initially scheduled to take effect on January 1, 2026.

This ambitious tax measure, included in « Bill 96 » passed last May, planned to impose an 11% tax on the price of cruise ship passengers, prorated to the number of days they were in port, with the potential for the tax to reach 14%. with local county surcharges.

While District Judge Jill A. Otake initially upheld the law in late December, the cruise industry, represented by CLIA, immediately appealed, denouncing an excessive financial burden on passengers and a blatant violation of the U.S. Constitution.

Actively supported by the Trump administration, which views this local taxation as a barrier to trade, the lawsuit found a receptive audience with the appeals court judges, who granted a stay of execution.

For Governor Josh Green, this blockage represents a major setback in his strategy to finance the archipelago’s ecological resilience in the face of climate change, while for shipping companies, this decision offers a crucial reprieve from what they consider discriminatory taxation.

With the federal government now involved in the case, the outcome of this legal battle will be decisive for the future of local environmental policies in the United States, leaving operators and future travelers awaiting a final ruling on the merits.