abstract:The "dormant" Commerce Clause, also known as the "negative" Commerce Clause, is a legal doctrine that courts in the United States have inferred from the Commerce Clause in Article I of the United States Constitution. The Commerce Clause expressly grants Congress the power to regulate commerce "among the several states.
Under the so-called "dormant CommerceClause" doctrine (dormant because it isn't actually written anywhere) the Supreme Court has interpreted the CommerceClause in the Constitution, which gives Congress the sole right to regulate interstate commerce, as a mandate to strike down state laws that interfere with same.