Ask the Declaration → Your rights, by who you are
The Constitution shaped American business long before any regulatory agency existed: it built a single national market, protected contracts and property, and placed the commerce power with Congress.
Descriptive, not legal advice · the founding documents' own words
Congress regulates commerce among the states. This commerce power is the constitutional basis of most federal business regulation, and of the national market itself.
No state may pass a law impairing the obligation of contracts, or lay its own duties on imports and exports. The Constitution's guardrails against state interference in trade.
Private property may not be taken for public use without just compensation, and no person is deprived of property without due process. The takings and due-process protections businesses rely on.
Extends due process and equal protection against the states, the ground on which businesses most often challenge arbitrary state action.