Commerce Clause

Article 1, Section 8, Clause 3 of the United States Constitution empowers the United States Congress "To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes".

The Commerce Clause has been the subject of intense constitutional and political disagreement centring on the extent to which Federal legislation may govern economic activity connected to interstate commerce but occurring within a state.

Opponents of such Federal intervention have interpreted the Clause as prohibiting Federal action to the extent that it may regulate intrastate production or exchange.

The clause was the subject of conflict between the U.S. Supreme Court and the Administration of Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1935-37 when the Court struck down several of the President's "New Deal" measures on the grounds that they encroached upon intrastate matters.

The Clause has also been the basis of several Supreme Court rulings invalidating state legislation deemed to impede commerce with other states of the Union.