Opinion of Kavanaugh, J.
today is a $20 billion-plus industry that generates hundreds of thousands of American jobs and serves millions of American consumers. Importantly for this case, the vast majority of pig farms are located in States other than California—such as Iowa, Minnesota, Illinois, Indiana, and North Carolina. And the vast majority of pork is likewise produced in States other than California.
In 2018, California voters nonetheless passed a ballot initiative, Proposition 12, that not only regulates pig farming and pork production in California, but also in effect regulates pig farming and pork production throughout the United States. Under Proposition 12, all pork sold to consumers in California must be derived from pigs raised in compliance with California’s strict standards for pig farming, including California’s minimum square footage of space required for housing individual pigs. By its terms, Proposition 12 applies to pigs raised and pork produced outside California.
California’s requirements for pig farms and pork production depart significantly from common agricultural practices that are lawful in major pig-farming and pork-producing States such as Iowa, Minnesota, Illinois, Indiana, and North Carolina. See Brief for Indiana et al. as Amici Curiae 24–32. Moreover, according to various amici, some of the scientific literature suggests that California’s requirements could worsen animal health and welfare. See, e.g., Brief for American Association of Swine Veterinarians as Amicus Curiae 4–19; Brief for State Pork Producers Association of Iowa et al. as Amici Curiae 25–34. Regardless of whether the amici are correct on that point, it is evident that absent California’s Proposition 12, relatively few pig farmers and pork producers in the United States would follow the practices that California now demands. Yet American pig farmers and pork producers have little choice but to comply with California’s regulatory dictates. It would be prohibitively expensive and
