Tariff of 1883 tariff without having to involve himself in a congressional battle over the issue. The law exempts fruit but not vegetables, causing tomato importers to file sue claiming that tomatoes are a fruit, resulting in the unanimous U.S. Supreme Court decision in "Nix v. Hedden" (May 10, 1893) that tomatoes are to be considered a vegetable for purposes of this tariff. Tariff of 1883 In United States tax law history, the Tariff of 1883 (signed into law on March 3, 1883), also known as the Mongrel Tariff Act by its critics, reduced high tariff rates only marginally, and left in place
Nix v. Hedden the plaintiffs' counsel entered into evidence definitions of the words "fruit" and "vegetables" from Webster's Dictionary, Worcester's Dictionary, and the Imperial Dictionary. They called two witnesses, who had been in the business of selling fruit and vegetables for 30 years, and asked them, after hearing these definitions, to say whether these words had "any special meaning in trade or commerce, different from those read." During testimony, one witness testified that in regard to the dictionary definition: Another witness testified that "I don't think the term 'fruit' or the term 'vegetables' had, in March 1883, and prior thereto, any special meaning