WASHINGTON—A divided Supreme Court ruled 5–4 that an 1855 treaty between the U.S. government and the Yakama Indian tribe prevents Washington state from levying a fuel import tax on businesses owned by the tribe, a decision that could embolden tribal businesses nationwide to challenge states’ authority to collect taxes from such operations across the United States.
The March 19 ruling, in which Justice Neil Gorsuch, a Trump appointee, joined four liberal justices on the court, came in the case of Washington State Department of Licensing v. Cougar Den Inc.
