COMMERCE - Black's Law Dictionary

The  exchange of goods, productions, or property of any  kind. Jeu  Jo Wan v. Nagle, C.C.A.Cal., 9 F.2d 309, 310.

Intercourse by way of trade and traffic between different peoples or states  and the citizens or inhabitants thereof, including not only the purchase, sale, and exchange of commodities, but also the in- strumentalities and agencies by which it is promoted  and the means  and appliances by which  it is carried on, and the transportation of persons  as well as of goods, both  by land  and by sea. Brennan v. Titusville,  14 S.Ct. 829, 153 U.S. 289, 38 L. Ed. 719;  Railroad Co. v. Fuller, 17 Wall.  568,  21 L.Ed. 710;  Hoke  v. United States, 33 S.Ct.  281, 283, 227 U.S. 308, 57 L.Ed. 523, 43 L.R.A.,N.S., 906, Ann.Cas.1913E, 905.  Also  interchange of ideas, sentiments, etc., as between man and man. U. S. Eason Oil Co., D.C.Okl., 8 F.Supp. 365, 368.

Commerce, in its  simplest signification, means an exchange of goods; but in the advancement of society, labor, transportation, intelligence, care and various mediums of exchange, become commodities  and enter into commerce; the  subject, the  vehicle, the agent, and their various operations become the  objects of commercial regulation. Lorenzetti v. American  Trust Co., D.C.Cal.,  45 F.Supp. 128, 132.

"Commerce" is not  traffic alone, but  is intercourse between nations  and parts of nations  in all its branches. Blumenstock Bros. Advertising  Agency v. Curtis Pub. Co., 252 U.S. 436, 40 S.Ct. 385, 387, 64 L.Ed. 649.

The words "commerce" and "trade" are  often used interchangeably; but, strictly speaking,  commerce relates to intercourse or dealings with foreign  nations, states,  or political communities, while trade denotes business  intercourse or mutual traffic within the  limits of a state or nation,  or the buying, selling,  and exchanging of articles between members of the same community.  Hooker v. Vandewater, 4 Denio, N.Y., 353,  47 Am.  Dec.  258;  Jacob; Wharton.

• Commerce among the  states. Transportation from one state to another,  and also all commercial intercourse between the different states, and all component parts of such  intercourse. Dahnke Walker Milling Co. v. Bondurant, 257 U.S. 282, 42 S.Ct. 106, 108, 66 L.Ed. 239.
• Commerce with foreign  nations. Commerce between citizens  of the United  States and citizens  or subjects of foreign governments; commerce which, either  immediately or at some  stage  of its progress, is extraterritorial. U. S. v. Holliday, 3 Wall. 409, 18 L.Ed. 182; Veazie  v. Moor, 14 How. 573, 14 L.Ed. 545; Lord v. Steamship Co., 102 U.S. 544, 26 L.Ed. 224. The  same as "foreign commerce," which  see infra.
  Power  of Congress to regulate "commerce with foreign nations"  comprehends every species  of commercial intercourse. U.S.C.A.Const. art. 1, § 8, cl. 3. Board of Trustees of University of Illinois v. U. S., Cust. & Pat.App., 53 S.Ct. 509, 289 U.S. 48, 77 L.Ed. 1025.
• Commerce with Indian tribes. Commerce with individuals belonging  to such tribes, in the nature of buying, selling, and exchanging commodities, without reference to the  locality where carried on, though  it be within  the limits of a state. U. S. v. Holliday, 3 Wall. 407,  18 L.Ed. 182;  U. S. v. Cisna, 25 Fed.Cas. 424.
• Domestic commerce. Commerce carried on wholly within the limits  of the United States, as distinguished from foreign  commerce. Also, commerce carried on within the limits of a single state, as distinguished from interstate  commerce.  Louis- ville  & N. R. Co. v. Tennessee R. R. Com'n, C.C. Tenn., 19 Fed. 701.
• Foreign  commerce. Commerce or trade between the United States  and foreign countries. Com.  v. Housatonic R. Co.,  143  Mass. 264,  9 N.E.  547; Foster v. New Orleans,  94 U.S. 246, 24 L.Ed. 122. The term  is sometimes applied to commerce between ports  of two sister  states not lying  on the same  coast,  e. g., New  York  and  San  Francisco.
• Internal commerce. Such  as is carried on between individuals within the same state, or between different parts of the same state. Lehigh Val. R. Co. v. Pennsylvania, 145 U.S. 192, 12 S.Ct. 806, 36 L.Ed. 672; Steamboat Co. v. Livingston, 3 Cow.  (N.Y.)  713. Now more  commonly called  "intrastate"  commerce.
• International commerce. Commerce between states or nations entirely foreign to each  other. Louisville & N. R. Co. v. Tennessee R. R. Com'n, C.C.Tenn., 19 F. 701.
• Interstate commerce. Such as is carried  on between different states of the  Union or between points lying in different states. See  Interstate Commerce.
• Intrastate commerce. Such as is begun,  carried on, and  completed wholly within the limits of a single state. Contrasted with "interstate commerce" (q. v.). State v. Reed, 53 Mont. 292, 163 477, 479, Ann.Cas.1917E, 783. And see South- ern Pac. Co. v. State, 19 Ariz. 20, 165 P. 303, 306.

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