United States v. International Business Machines Corp., 517 U.S. 843, 4 (1996)

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846

UNITED STATES v. INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS

MACHINES CORP.

Opinion of the Court

Federal Claims, contending that application of § 4371 to policies insuring its export shipments violated the Export Clause. The focus of the suit was this Court's decision in Thames & Mersey Marine Ins. Co. v. United States, 237 U. S. 19 (1915), in which we held that a federal stamp tax on policies insuring marine risks could not, under the Export Clause, be constitutionally applied to policies covering export shipments. The United States argued that the analysis of Thames & Mersey is no longer valid, having been superseded by subsequent decisions interpreting the Import-Export Clause—specifically, Michelin Tire Corp. v. Wages, 423 U. S. 276 (1976), and Department of Revenue of Wash. v. Association of Wash. Stevedoring Cos., 435 U. S. 734 (1978). The Court of Federal Claims noted that this Court has never overruled Thames & Mersey and ruled that application of § 4371 to policies insuring goods in export transit violates the Export Clause. 31 Fed. Cl. 500 (1994). The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed. 59 F. 3d 1234 (1995). We agreed to hear this case to decide whether we should overrule Thames & Mersey. 516 U. S. 1021 (1995).

II

The Export Clause states simply and directly: "No Tax or Duty shall be laid on Articles exported from any State." U. S. Const., Art. I, § 9, cl. 5. We have had few occasions to interpret the language of the Export Clause, but our cases have broadly exempted from federal taxation not only export goods, but also services and activities closely related to the export process. At the same time, we have attempted to limit the term "Articles exported" to permit federal taxation of pre-export goods and services.

Our early cases upheld federal assessments on the manufacture of particular products ultimately intended for export by finding that pre-export products are not "Articles exported." See Pace v. Burgess, 92 U. S. 372 (1876); Turpin v. Burgess, 117 U. S. 504 (1886); Cornell v. Coyne, 192 U. S. 418

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