The U.S. Supreme Court case American Trucking Associations, Inc., et al. v. Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway Co. et al., 1966 revolved around the issue of whether a state could impose its tax on an interstate business for the privilege of doing business in that state without violating the Commerce Clause of the Constitution which prohibits states from passing laws that unduly burden interstate commerce. In this case, California imposed a property tax and a franchise tax on railroads operating within its borders - including those involved in interstate commerce like Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway Co (ATSF). The American Trucking Associations argued that these taxes were discriminatory against out-of-state businesses and thus unconstitutional under the Commerce Clause. However, after reviewing previous rulings related to similar issues and considering arguments presented by both sides, the Supreme Court held that California's taxation did not violate any constitutional provisions as long as it was fairly apportioned to reflect ATSF’s activities within California compared with its overall operations across multiple states.

In the dissenting opinion for American Trucking Associations, Inc., et al. v. Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway Co. et al., Justice Black disagreed with the majority's decision to uphold a California law that allowed railroads to charge truckers higher fees than other commercial users for public highway use. He argued that this violated the Commerce Clause of the U.S Constitution by discriminating against interstate commerce and favoring local businesses over out-of-state ones. Furthermore, he contended that it was not within a state's power to impose such discriminatory charges on interstate commerce as it could lead to economic retaliation from other states and disrupt national unity in trade matters.