194
Opinion of the Court
"Neither the power to tax nor the police power may be used by the state of destination with the aim and effect of establishing an economic barrier against competition with the products of another state or the labor of its residents. Restrictions so contrived are an unreasonable clog upon the mobility of commerce. They set up what is equivalent to a rampart of customs duties designed to neutralize advantages belonging to the place of origin." Id., at 527.
Thus, because the minimum price regulation had the same effect as a tariff or customs duty—neutralizing the advantage possessed by lower cost out-of-state producers—it was held unconstitutional. Similarly, in Bacchus Imports, Ltd. v. Dias, 468 U. S. 263 (1984), this Court invalidated a law which advantaged local production by granting a tax exemption to certain liquors produced in Hawaii. Other cases of this kind are legion. Welton v. Missouri, 91 U. S. 275 (1876); Guy v. Baltimore, 100 U. S. 434 (1880); Toomer v. Witsell, 334 U. S. 385 (1948); Polar Ice Cream & Creamery Co. v. Andrews, 375 U. S. 361 (1964); Chemical Waste Management, Inc. v. Hunt, 504 U. S. 334 (1992); see also Hunt v. Washington State Apple Advertising Comm'n, 432 U. S. 333, 351 (1977) (invalidating statute, because it "has the effect of stripping away from the Washington apple industry the competitive and economic advantages it has earned").
Under these cases, Massachusetts' pricing order is clearly unconstitutional. Its avowed purpose and its undisputed effect are to enable higher cost Massachusetts dairy farmers to compete with lower cost dairy farmers in other States. The "premium payments" are effectively a tax which makes milk produced out of State more expensive. Although the tax also applies to milk produced in Massachusetts, its effect on Massachusetts producers is entirely (indeed more than) offset by the subsidy provided exclusively to Massachusetts dairy farmers. Like an ordinary tariff, the tax is thus effectively imposed only on out-of-state products. The pricing
Page: Index Previous 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 NextLast modified: October 4, 2007