United States v. International Business Machines Corporation

Decided June 10, 1996. Clarence Thomas delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 95-591 · 517 U.S. 843 (1996) · Cited 153 times

Holding

The Export Clause prohibits assessment of nondiscriminatory federal taxes on goods in export transit.

The Court’s statement of the holding, from the opinion’s syllabus. The syllabus is prepared by the Reporter of Decisions and is not part of the opinion of the Court — read the official opinion for authority.

How the Justices voted

Decided 6–2.

“Concurring” means agreeing with the outcome; any split shown is the Court’s judgment, not each Justice’s reasoning. Source: the Supreme Court Database (Spaeth et al.), Washington University.

Precedents cited

Supreme Court decisions this opinion relies on, ordered by how often it cites each. Cases in our collection link through; others are named.

• Fairbank v. United States · 181 U.S. 283 (1901)
• Department of Revenue v. Ass'n of Washington Stevedoring Companies · 435 U.S. 734 (1978)
• Michelin Tire Corp. v. Wages · 423 U.S. 276 (1976)
• Thames & Mersey Marine Insurance v. United States · 237 U.S. 19 (1915)
• Cornell v. Coyne · 192 U.S. 418 (1904)
• Payne v. Tennessee · 501 U.S. 808 (1991)
• Brown v. Maryland · 25 U.S. 419 (1827)
• Robbins v. Shelby County Taxing District · 120 U.S. 489 (1887)
• Richfield Oil Corp. v. State Board of Equalization · 329 U.S. 69 (1946)
• Massachusetts v. United States · 333 U.S. 611 (1948)
• A. G. Spalding & Bros. v. Edwards · 262 U.S. 66 (1923)
• Erie Railroad v. Tompkins · 304 U.S. 64 (1938)
• Complete Auto Transit, Inc. v. Brady · 430 U.S. 274 (1977)
• Edward J. DeBartolo Corp. v. Florida Gulf Coast Building & Construction Trades Council · 485 U.S. 568 (1988)
• Smith v. Allwright · 321 U.S. 649 (1944)
• Panama Railroad v. Johnson · 264 U.S. 375 (1924)
• Low v. Austin · 80 U.S. 29 (1872)
• Blonder-Tongue Laboratories, Inc. v. University of Illinois Foundation · 402 U.S. 313 (1971)
• Russell v. United States · 369 U.S. 749 (1962)
• United States v. Detroit Timber & Lumber Co. · 200 U.S. 321 (1906)
• Helvering v. Hallock · 309 U.S. 106 (1940)
• Procunier v. Navarette · 434 U.S. 555 (1978)
• United States v. South-Eastern Underwriters Assn. · 322 U.S. 533 (1944)
• Paul v. Virginia · 75 U.S. 168 (1869)
• Knowlton v. Moore · 178 U.S. 41 (1900)
• United States v. Burke · 504 U.S. 229 (1992)
• Quill Corp. v. North Dakota Ex Rel. Heitkamp · 504 U.S. 298 (1992)
• Arizona v. Rumsey · 467 U.S. 203 (1984)
• Hooper v. California · 155 U.S. 648 (1895)
• Western Live Stock v. Bureau of Revenue · 303 U.S. 250 (1938)

Cited by

Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.

• United States v. United States Shoe Corp. · 523 U.S. 360 (1998)
• Ashcroft v. Iqbal · 556 U.S. 662 (2009)
• Greenlaw v. United States · 554 U.S. 237 (2008)
• John R. Sand & Gravel Co. v. United States · 552 U.S. 130 (2008)
• Camps Newfound/Owatonna, Inc. v. Town of Harrison · 520 U.S. 564 (1997)
• Randall v. Sorrell · 548 U.S. 230 (2006)
• Knowles v. Mirzayance · 556 U.S. 111 (2009)
• DaimlerChrysler Corp. v. Cuno · 547 U.S. 332 (2006)
• Dickerson v. United States · 530 U.S. 428 (2000)
• Janus v. State, County, and Municipal Employees · 585 U.S. 878 (2018)
• Colorado Republican Federal Campaign Committee v. Federal Election Commission · 518 U.S. 604 (1996)

Official text

Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)

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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1996). Citation count from the Free Law Project’s CourtListener bulk data. Data last verified 2026-07-03. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).