Court Opinion

ID: 9455086
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-04 19:10:47.992436+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:34:27.038051
License: Public Domain

NICHOLS, Judge
(concurring):
I agree with the commissioner’s opinion, findings, and conclusion of law. I shall never cease to marvel at the omission of tax lawyers to cite customs decisions on interpretation of the excise taxes, and vice versa, Cf. Gallagher & Aseher Co. v. United States, 52 CCPA 11, C.A.D. 849 (1964). Unless one knew, one would never guess that the two groups of laws were drafted by the same Congressional committees, enacted by the same Congress, administered by the same Department, and require classification of many of the same items of merchandise. There are other examples of the compartmentation of the modern legal mind, but a more splendid and shining one would be hard to discover. I favor a practice, while working in each field, of glancing aside at decisions in the other, even though one might end up not following them, as in Select Tire Salvage Co., Inc. v. United States, 386 F.2d 1008, 181 Ct.Cl. 695 (1967). We held there than an imported tire carcass was not a “tire” under the excise laws though it would be a “tire” under the customs laws. Here, I find nothing to raise a challenge with. The “parts and accessories” of the excise laws are apparently more inclusive than the parallel tariff provisions which, as in Gallager & Aseher, supra, require a nice and difficult distinction between a part and an accessory.
1. Plaintiff is a Michigan corporation with its principal office and place of business in Fort Loramie, Ohio.
2. Since 1945 and during the taxable years in issue (1958, 1959 and 1960), plaintiff manufactured and sold, inter alia, a fastening device commonly known and advertised in automotive circles as a muffler clamp. Plaintiff in this litigation objects to such designation principally because the basic device was originally designed for nonautomotive uses and, while in the automotive era it has been predominately used for automotive purposes in connection with installation of mufflers and tailpipes, it is usable and used for other nonautomotive purposes. However, for purposes of convenience it will hereafter be referred to usually as a muffler clamp without necessarily inferring by that designation that the device is not adapted to some nonautomotive uses of a secondary nature.
3. This action was commenced to recover manufacturers’ excise taxes in the amount of $49,125.53, plus interest, imposed upon plaintiff’s sales of muffler clamps and fifth wheel U-bolt kits which it manufactured and sold during the taxable years. Plaintiff paid assessed excise taxes in the stated amount plus interest in the amount of $8,275.86 on August 13, 1962. Plaintiff’s timely cláim for refund was disallowed on June 19, 1968, and this action was commenced on June 15, 1965, seeking recovery of the taxes and interest paid. Plaintiff has withdrawn its claim to the extent of 2y2 percent, constituting the tax and interest on sales of fifth wheel U-bolt kits, leaving in issue the sum of $47,897.39 in excise taxes and interest imposed on sales of muffler clamps as parts or accessories *1353for an automobile under section 4061 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954.
4. The muffler clamp which plaintiff manufactured and sold to automotive customers consisted of a U-bolt, a clamp or “saddle”, two nuts, and washers. The U-bolt is heavy-gauge wire formed in the shape of a “U” and threaded at each end. The part referred to as a saddle is a straight line. The top line of the saddle is an arc, which is designed so that when the saddle and the U-bolt are combined they close to form a circle. The saddle is a three-sided piece, that is, it has two sides perpendicular to the base. The base of the saddle manufactured by plaintiff has three holes. The holes at each end accommodate the legs of .the U-bolt so that the saddle and the U-bolt may be fitted around cylindrical or quasi-cylindrical objects (such as tailpipes, exhaust pipes, steel fence posts, etc.) and fastened by means of nuts and washers. The third hole is in the center of the saddle piece. The assembly constitutes a simple fastening and/or sealing device, and has occasional uses as a hanger for the tailpipe,
5. The U-bolt and saddle fastening device, of which plaintiff’s is a common specie, utilizes a principle which has been long known and widely used in the engineering world for a variety of fastening purposes. A fastener is defined as a device for holding two or more bodies in a definite position with respect to one another. The device derives from a design patented by Oliver Crosby in 1888 which has been used extensively and continuously since then as a clamp for wire ropes and cables. The Crosby clamp is still manufactured and used as a cable clamp. While such a cable clamp can be used to attach an automobile muffler to an exhaust pipe or tailpipe, it is made of cast metal for added strength, is much heavier and more expensive than a standard automotive muffler clamp, and, therefore, is not practical for use as a muffler clamp, nor is it so used. Plaintiff’s muffler clamp or its competitive equivalent is not generally used for clamping wire rope or cable, for safety reasons.
6. The principle of the U-bolt and saddle clamp did not have a single form of universal application during the tax period in issue, but prior thereto had been modified or adapted to various uses. A variation of the U-bolt and saddle assembly is the U-bolt and strap assembly. Whereas the saddle has a single or double curved edge so that in conjunction with the U-bolt it will form a circle, the strap is simply a straight piece, which does not complete a circle. Devices employing the U-bolt and saddle, or strap, principle have been adapted (by design change or improvisation) in conjunction with television antennas, automobile exhaust assemblies, plumbing, heating and air-conditioning businesses, pipes and conduits in general, fence posts, wire ropes, and cables, hose clamps, highway sign posts, and for collateral clamping purposes such as upon the hubs of a tricycle and for anchoring a child’s swing set. In such uses their general function is to clamp or hold two or more cylindrical or objects in a definite, stable position with relation to each other, either by holding them still or tightly together.
7. The exhaust system of an automobile, through which gaseous engine wastes are dispelled, consists in most automobiles of .three parts, viz: the exhaust pipe from the engine to the muffler, the muffler itself, and finally the tailpipe which extends from the muffler to the rear of the car. These parts are connected by inserting the end of one pipe into .the near end of the adjacent pipe and then sealing them together in some fashion so that they will be circumferentially snugtight and will prevent gas seepage. Since welding the joints is rather expensive, the sealing is commonly accomplished by the use of muffler clamps of the type in suit. The muffler clamp is also used in certain automobiles (foreign and vintage American) as a tailpipe hanger by connecting a flexible strap of cord or rubber to the saddle through a hole in the saddle, and then attaching it to the chassis so as to sus*1354pend .the tailpipe in a usually nonrigid position.
8. As described in finding 4, unlike its competitors, the plaintiff makes a hole in the center of the saddle piece of its muffler clamp. One function of the hole is to facilitate the suspension of an automobile exhaust assembly, or in nonautomotive applications -to hang pipes and conduits, permit the fastening of additional material, or threading with a bolt for more secure fastening as in fastening traffic signs to poles. Another automotive function of the hole in .the saddle is that it tends to, effect a better seal in connecting the exhaust components because the saddle can be bowed by using the pressure of an impact gun (instead of a ratchet). The hole in the saddle increases the utility of plaintiff’s muffler clamp for all uses. The Supreme Manufacturing Company, a competitor of plaintiff, manufactures and sells a U-bolt and saddle clamp which is practically identical to the clamp manufactured and sold by plaintiff, with the exception .that it does not have a hole in the middle of the saddle. Supreme’s package in which the clamp is sold bears the labels “Heavy Duty Clamp” and “All-Purpose Clamp” and bears illustrations indicating that the clamp can be used on automobiles, television antennas, or in plumbing.
9. The clamps manufactured by plaintiff are more similar in design, material used, and weight to U-bolt and saddle assemblies manufactured and sold by plaintiff’s competitors as muffler clamps than to clamps which are manufactured for such uses as cable clamps and television antenna clamps, and they are more versatile for collateral uses than the latter.
10. While plaintiff’s muffler clamp can be and is used for television antenna installation, it is not as well-suited or adapted for that purpose as television antenna clamps which are especially designed therefor. Principally, in contrast to plaintiff’s muffler clamps, the saddle of the television antenna clamp has a serrated edge which grips the antenna and prevents it from turning in the wind; the U-bolt portion of the television antenna clamp has longer legs in order to fit around two pieces of metal (i. e., the mast and the antenna); and it has a second strap or saddle piece which fits over the legs of the U-bolt.
11. While the type of muffler clamp sold by plaintiff has not been used to any proven extent by the plumbing, heating and air-conditioning businesses as a clamp and hanger, it would be satisfactory for such use if it met load and size requirements. It is similar in principle to a Clevis clamp which is customarily used as a clamp and hanger by those businesses. Plaintiff’s general manager did not know whether plaintiff sold its clamps to plumbing supply houses, although he recalled sales of U-boIts .to plumbing supply houses.
12. During the years in issue plaintiff was listed in the Thomas Registry as a manufacturer under the various headings, “Clamps”, “U-boIts”, “Clamps: Automotive”, “Clamps: Special”, and “Mufflers: Exhaust, Automobile, Gasoline Motor, etc.” Plaintiff was described in the Thomas Registry as “Mfrs. of U-Bolts, Muffler Clamps, Stampings, etc.”, and its products were described as “U-Bolt Type Muffler, Linkage Assemblies, etc.”, “Accessories for U-Bolts, Strap Assemblies, etc.”, “U-Bolt type”, “Standard & Special Bolts & Assemblies”, “U-Bolts, C-Clamps, Wire Products, etc.” Some of these descriptions related to automotive uses in the Thomas Registry and some to nonautomotive. Whether the U-Bolts so sold were muffler clamp components does not appear.
13. Due largely to good business contacts of plaintiff corporation’s founder, as well as the type of article, the customers to whom plaintiff sold its muffler clamps during the period in issue were primarily manufacturer-distributors of automobile parts. Its sales to Maremont Corporation (formerly Maremont Automotive Products, Inc.), which manufactures and sells mufflers and sells muffler clamps, accounted for approximately 83 percent of the excise tax in issue. Other automotive customers of plaintiff
*1355were A. P. Parts Corporation and McCord Corporation, which companies were manufacturers and sellers of mufflers. Plaintiff had only a few customers in nonautomotive fields. As part of Maremont’s marketing program, plaintiff put the U-bolt and saddle clamp in a package which said “Maremount” on it and referred to the product as a “Full Circle Muffler Clamp” with directions on the package for installation. Maremont sold the packaged muffler clamps with its mufflers. Plaintiff packaged the muffler clamps which it sold to its other automotive customers in a similar container which did not carry the name of the customer on them.
14. During the taxable period in issue plaintiff also sold its clamps in bulk, unassembled and not individually boxed, and sometimes in components or broken sets to nonautomotive customers in the television antenna, plumbing, and hardware supply businesses.1 Such sales were not subjected to the excise tax. Plaintiff was unable to state what proportion of its total muffler clamps sales was for nonautomotive use, but conceded that sales were predominately for automotive use.
15. Since 1945 plaintiff has manufactured its U-bolt and saddle clamp in stock (i. e., standard) dimensions in the following sizes without reference to orders, so as to maintain predetermined levels of inventory:

All of the eight foregoing sizes between iy2 inches and 2% inches, which constituted 86.1 percent of plaintiff’s overall sales of clamps, contain a center hole in the saddle.
*135616. The plaintiff’s style of muffler clamp is designed, adapted, manufactured, sold, and used predominately and primarily for automotive purposes, with distinctly minor actual use proven in nonautomotive fields where a variety of devices of specialized designs but employing the basic U-bolt and saddle principle are manufactured and sold for particular uses. Many of the nonautomotive uses of its muffler clamp cited by plaintiff amount .to mere improvisations or are potential in nature.
17. Since the original design of the U-bolt and saddle clamp for wire and cable as exemplified in the Crosby patent in 1888 (finding 5, supra), the same principle has been adapted by redesign to a variety of specialized uses, such as on television antennas to fasten the antenna to the mast, in plumbing, heating and air conditioning as a hanger to support pipes and conduits, and in automobile exhaust systems to attach and seal the exhaust components. No one type of such clamp has universal application that is not bettered by a specialized clamp employing the same principle. In each case the original principle of the Crosby clamp has been modified and redesigned to adapt to the peculiar needs of each separate form of use. Whereas plaintiff’s muffler clamp is ideally designed for an automobile exhaust assembly, it is not ideally designed for a wire and cable clamp or a television antenna clamp or a pipe and conduit hanger, but instead there are clamps similar in principle but different in style and engineering features which are especially designed for these other uses.
CONCLUSION OF LAW
Upon the foregoing findings of fact and opinion, which are adopted by the court and made a part of the judgment herein, the court concludes as a matter of law that plaintiff is not entitled to recover and the petition is dismissed.

. There is no record of the sales for nonautomotive use, hut it is believed that sales for television antenna use were de minimis, while the only sales which plaintiff’s general manager could recall to plumbing supply houses were of U-bolts rather than the assembled clamp device, and there is no proof that the U-bolts sold to plumbing supply houses were components of the muffler damp. The inference is that they may well have been U-bolts made by plaintiff which were unrelated to muffler clamps, especially since plaintiff advertised itself as a manufacturer of nonautomotive U-clamps. The sales to a hardware supply firm were estimated to total approximately $7,000 in each year of the years in issue, and these apparently were resold for use by the Texas Highway Department in attaching highway signs to posts. The $7,000 figure was not proven.