Cite as: 511 U. S. 93 (1994)
Opinion of the Court
as its corollary that the states are not separable economic units." H. P. Hood & Sons, Inc. v. Du Mond, 336 U. S. 525, 537-538 (1949).
Consistent with these principles, we have held that the first step in analyzing any law subject to judicial scrutiny under the negative Commerce Clause is to determine whether it "regulates evenhandedly with only 'incidental' effects on interstate commerce, or discriminates against interstate commerce." Hughes, supra, at 336. See also Chemical Waste, 504 U. S., at 340-341. As we use the term here, "discrimination" simply means differential treatment of in-state and out-of-state economic interests that benefits the former and burdens the latter. If a restriction on commerce is discriminatory, it is virtually per se invalid. Id., at 344, n. 6. See also Philadelphia v. New Jersey, 437 U. S. 617, 624 (1978). By contrast, nondiscriminatory regulations that have only incidental effects on interstate commerce are valid unless "the burden imposed on such commerce is clearly excessive in relation to the putative local benefits." Pike v. Bruce Church, Inc., 397 U. S. 137, 142 (1970).
In Chemical Waste, we easily found Alabama's surcharge on hazardous waste from other States to be facially discriminatory because it imposed a higher fee on the disposal of out-of-state waste than on the disposal of identical in-state waste. 504 U. S., at 342. We deem it equally obvious here that Oregon's $2.25 per ton surcharge is discriminatory on its face. The surcharge subjects waste from other States to a fee almost three times greater than the $0.85 per ton charge imposed on solid in-state waste. The statutory determinant for which fee applies to any particular shipment of solid waste to an Oregon landfill is whether or not the waste was "generated out-of-state." Ore. Rev. Stat. § 459.297(1) (1991). It is well established, however, that a law is discriminatory if it " 'tax[es] a transaction or incident more heavily when it crosses state lines than when it occurs entirely within the State.' " Chemical Waste, supra, at 342
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