Can Cruises Within Us Territorial Waters Engage In Foreign Trade ?

In Dream Boat, Inc. v. Department of Revenue, 921 So. 2d 1, (Fla. 1st DCA 2003), the district court determined that cruises-to-nowhere that do not leave U.S. territorial waters cannot be engaged in foreign commerce. Since this Court's grant of review, the Fourth District has issued another decision requiring the proration of sales and use taxes for Deerbrooke Investments, Inc., a Panamanian corporation that operated a gaming ship off the coast of Florida during 1997 and 1998. See Deerbrooke Invs., Inc. v. Fla. Dep't of Revenue, 861 So. 2d 447 (Fla. 4th DCA 2003).