334
Opinion of O'Connor, J.
tions. The Congress, not the Executive or the Judiciary, has been given the power to regulate commerce. U. S. Const., Art. I, § 8, cl. 3. The Legislature has neither approved nor disapproved the California tax. Although in such circumstances courts have the power to scrutinize taxes for consistency with our negative Commerce Clause jurisprudence, this determination should be made on the basis of the objective factors outlined in Complete Auto (and, in the foreign commerce context, the multiple taxation analysis discussed in Japan Line), not statements made and briefs filed by officials in the Executive Branch. Cf. Itel Containers Int'l Corp. v. Huddleston, 507 U. S. 60, 80-81 (1993) (Scalia, J., concurring in part and concurring in judgment). Indeed, the inconsistent positions taken by the Solicitor General in the course of Barclays' challenge to the California tax illustrate the perils of resting constitutional determinations on such "evidence." Compare Brief for United States as Amicus Curiae 21-24 (arguing that the California tax was constitutionally applied to Barclays during the tax years in question), with Brief for United States as Amicus Curiae in Barclays Bank v. Franchise Tax Board, O. T. 1992, No. 92- 212, pp. 9-16 (arguing that the imposition of the California tax on Barclays was unconstitutional).
But I cannot agree with the Court's resolution of the other Japan Line factor—the need to avoid international multiple taxation. See ante, at 316-320. Barclays does 98% of its business in countries other than the United States. California, through application of worldwide combined reporting, taxes some of that income. The trial court found as a fact that "[t]here is a definite risk of, as well as actual double taxation here." App. to Pet. for Cert. in No. 92-1384, p. A-25. This double taxation occurs because California has adopted a taxing system that is inconsistent with the taxing method used by foreign taxing authorities. California's formula assigns a higher proportion of income to jurisdictions where wage rates, property values, and sales prices are
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