Interstate commerce, in U.S. constitutional law, any commercial transactions or traffic that cross state boundaries or that involve more than one state. The traditional concept that the free flow of commerce between states should not be impeded has been used to effect a wide range of regulations, both federal and state. A further extension of the established notion regarding the free flow of trade was introduced when Title II of the 1964 Civil Rights Actâdealing with discriminatory practices in public accommodationsâwas upheld by the Supreme Court. The court decided that a business, although operating within a single state, could affect interstate commerce with its restrictive laws and was, therefore, at odds with the federal legislation that proved to be enabling of the Constitutionâs commerce clause.
Other specific historical instances of federal government action to regulate interstate commerce can be cited. The Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC), established in 1887, was intended originally to regulate the railroad industry. It was expanded to deal with trucks, ships, freight forwarders, and other interstate carriers. The regulations concerned rates, routes, services, mergers, bills of lading, and securities issued by carriers. In the wake of the deregulation of the trucking and other industries in the 1970s and â80s, the ICC was eliminated in 1996, and many of its remaining responsibilities were shifted to the Department of Transportation.
Sign displayed on horse and wagon, c. 1900, specifying that it was being used for âInterstate Commerce Traffic Only.â
George Grantham Bain Collection/Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (ggbain 08714)
The Sherman Act (1890), followed by the Clayton Act (1914), made illegal any acts that tended to interfere in free competition between and among industries, businesses, and all interstate commercial ventures. The Sherman Act specifically involved trusts, or monopolies, while the Clayton Act also concerned itself with stock acquisition and sale and forbade interlocking directorates as an impediment to free competition and, therefore, a bar to free interstate commerce.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) was established by the Federal Trade Commission Act of 1914, which gave the FTC powersâjudicial, legislative, and executiveâto administer the Sherman and Clayton acts.
The fair-trade legislation of 1937 protects manufacturers by permitting them to maintain an image of quality by charging a higher price through their retailers. These laws, which forbade discounters from selling the goods at lower than retail prices, were considered protective of interstate commerce because they restricted cutthroat competition. In recent years, however, these laws have been challenged, and the challenges have been upheld, showing the laws to be actually restrictive of interstate commerce rather than protective.
The Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB), which operated from 1938 to 1984, was involved in setting interstate routes as well as regulating fares for the commercial airlines. With the deregulation of the airline industry, however, the role of the CAB was much diminished, and its residual functions were assumed by the Department of Transportation.
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) was created to protect the right of the public to its airwaves through licensing and by overseeing the practices of broadcasters in radio and television. Again, the application to interstate commerce is that radio (and television) air belongs to all Americans even if the broadcast is local, the station privately funded, and the signal not intended to be picked up beyond the state lines.
In essence, the bulk of interstate-commerce regulatory agencies are to be found in the FCC (broadcasting) and FTC (antitrust provisions).
Cartoon depicting a uniformed Interstate Commerce Commission officer shining a large searchlight on U.S. railroad executive Edward Henry Harriman, who is struggling to carry a large load of packages and toy trains, some labeled âmerger.â
Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (neg. no. LC-USZ62-84057)
The several states also have some authority to regulate aspects of interstate commerce. Under the provisions of the statesâ police powers, interstate shipments may be banned, and, in the absence of federal laws to the contrary, state laws regulating highway traffic will invariably be upheld. In both examples, the burden on interstate commerce must not be so great as to outweigh either a stateâs greater interest or its implied powers of regulation in the absence of congressional legislation. Under the provisions of the commerce clause, a state may, in certain instances, tax goods in interstate commerce, providing that no congressional legislation prohibits such action (Hammerstein v. Superior Court [1951]).
