DaimlerChrysler Corporation v. Cuno, et al.

Case Updates

The Supreme Court dismissed the case after determining the plaintiffs lacked standing. The court did not decide the case on the merits.

NCLC urged the Supreme Court to reverse the Sixth Circuit’s determination that a garden-variety investment tax incentive, a franchise tax credit for new manufacturing machinery and equipment, violates the dormant Commerce Clause. In their complaint, the plaintiffs charged that Ohio impermissibly burdened interstate commerce by granting tax benefits to companies for investment in plants and equipment in Ohio. Having participated in the case below, NCLC explained to the Court that, in addition to misunderstanding the constitutional doctrines at play, the plaintiffs' challenge ignored the global dimension to the corporate relocation decision. The Sixth Circuit’s belief that states are merely competing with each other in attracting businesses and that such competition offends the dormant Commerce Clause finds no basis in an increasingly global economy where Ohio does not lose business just to Tennessee, but also to countries in Asia, Latin America and elsewhere.

Click here to view the Chamber's amicus brief.