Trade and Commerce Power

Abstract

The constitutional concept of a “valid regulatory scheme” is part of the arsenal of techniques constitutional law utilizes to overcome the difficulties of divided jurisdiction in a federal state. That being said, there has been surprisingly little pronouncement on what “constitutes a regulatory scheme”. This is even more surprising when one considers that a “regulatory scheme” is also required in the context of indirect tax. However, by examining the factual context of all of the trade and commerce and taxation cases, it may be seen that certain characteristics are present whenever a regulatory scheme exists.