Blowing Smoke for Big Tobacco
A series of investigative articles by The New York Times beginning June 30, 2015 exposed how the U.S. Chamber of Commerce (U.S. Chamber) has worked systematically in countries around the world to help the tobacco industry fight life-saving measures to reduce tobacco use. The Times articles examined the U.S. Chamber’s multi-pronged approach to fighting measures to reduce tobacco use, including opposing countries’ health policies, pitting countries against each other in international trade disputes, and influencing international trade agreements to benefit tobacco companies.
Our new report examines the U.S. Chamber’s tactics in depth, providing additional information and documentation about more than a dozen instances in which the U.S. Chamber has intervened on behalf of some of the world’s biggest tobacco companies to interfere with countries’ efforts to pass and implement proven, life-saving policies. The U.S. Chamber’s lobbying on behalf of the tobacco industry is shown to be a global, systematic pattern of activity.