The commerce clause is found under article 1 and section 8 of the United States Constitution. The clause accords power to the state congress to regulate how business is conducted within and across the borders of a state in the united states of America (Preis, 2016). The powers given to Congress by the clause helps in the regulating business conducted by the foreign nations, interstate commerce and with the native Indians residing in the United States. Recently, there have been arguments and even court cases on the high powers accorded to Congress by the clause.
Instances, where the clause has regulated how commerce is being undertaken, was displayed during the Marshall court era of the early 1800s. The commerce clause gave power and authority to Congress to regulate and impact interstate commerce. Another prominent example was during the year 1937 when the clause accorded power to the Congress who authorized control of economic issues in an unlimited manner.
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The commerce clause under the controlled substances use is also the federal drug prohibition law. For instance, the court ruled in favour of Congress's power to ban medical marijuana even for personal use in the case, Gonzales v. Raich even without physical or hard evidence. The argument of the petitioner was that the Congress is being accorded more power by the commerce clause.
Through the commerce clause, one court ruled out that the government has the authority to regulate the cultivation of certain crops and also consumption in the case of Wickard v. Filburn. The argument was that it would have an indirect impact to the interstate commerce since the individuals will be self-reliant in such a way, they will not participate in the business of buying from the food markets and thus the government would not gather enough tax.
For a business to operate across the borders of a state, there are specific qualification needed. Interstate businesses may involve sales of goods or offering of services. Goods such as processed food, building materials, electronics, furniture, and clothes. Services that are considered as a business include but not limited to building consultancy services, financial and banking services. Construction works are also termed as a business and can be offered across the borders of a state. The construction works may include roads, bridges, houses, and power plants. Labour provision or input is also a business when it comes to regional businesses. Provision of human labour across the borders of a state is considered as an interstate business, and thus the relevant qualifications must be met for the business to be conducted.
The regulations needed for a business to be conducted across the state’s borders range from legal to financial requirements. A business entity is required to pay an aggregate amount ranging from 100 dollars to 300 dollars for a license depending on the type of business they are indulged in. There is paperwork involved in the process. For instance, the business that intends to supply goods or services across the borders of a state must submit their tax compliance certificates and the social security number from their internal states. Across the borders of the domestic state, these business entities are referred to as foreign companies. (Cacciatore, 2015).
In some cases, the foreign company is required to publish a public notice on the local dailies of the new state. The publication should capture who they are and what they intend to supply in terms of goods, services or labour. This is meant to put the public of the state aware and also find out if the business entity has some bad or good reputation.
Some businesses can trade directly cross the borders without the pre-qualification process. Some of these businesses involve mail services, transportation services, telephone sales, and orders, holding bank accounts or appearance to the courts of law as well as arbitration for a company in the state.
The commerce clause is increasing the government power to precede over businesses. The clause has gone further to give the Congress the powers to regulate how the business is conducted across the borders of a state. The clause also allows Congress to regulate business conducted in a state by the foreigners and also the Indians residing in the states. Form the updated trade act under the commerce clause provides Congress with the power to affect trade agreements (Burnham, 2017). The Congress, through the power provided in the commerce clause, can affect the decision the president to negotiate free trade agreements. Furthermore, the clause offers Congress with powers to collect taxes and duties and also depts payment on behalf of the United States.
References
Burnham, James. (2017). “Congress and the American Tradition”. UK: Routledge Publishers.
Cacciatore, Matteo. (2015). “The Domestic and International Effects of Interstate US Banking”. Journal of International Economics. Issue 95 .
Preis, John. (2016) The Dormant Commerce Clause as a Limited Personal Jurisdiction . Lowell: Hein Publishers.
