The Northern States wanted Congress to control all foreign trade. Also, they wanted the Federal government to have control over taxation of imports and exports. By allowing these the Northern States wanted added protection for their industries which were growing very fast at that time.
Eventually, there was a compromise by the Northern States which allowed international trade as well as trade between different States to be control by the Federal government, and at the same time, States were permitted to have control of all trade inside their own States. Furthermore, the same compromised did not applied an export tax on the products for foreign trade. Also, there was a prohibition of the trade of slaves for twenty years. This act was known as the Commerce Compromise.
On the contrary, the Southern States did not want Congress to control the foreign trade because they depended heavily on foreign exports of rice and tobacco. Nevertheless, the Southern States also ended up agreeing to allow Congress to regulate foreign and States trade. In turn, the Northern States agreed that Congress could not impose taxes on any foreign trade by the Southern States, and slave trade could be permitted before 1808.
