Free Trade and Tobacco: Thank You for Not Smoking (Foreign) Cigarettes

"As efforts to liberalize trade have moved beyond tariffs and quotas and now cover various aspects of domestic regulation and policy, some critics have argued that trade agreements undermine domestic sovereignty. Through today's expansive trade and investment agreements, critics claim, governments are ceding regulatory space that might be necessary to protect safety and health. As a result, the critics see a conflict between the goal of free trade and investment, on the one hand, and the capacity of governments to regulate for legitimate policy reasons, on the other."