Taxes on beverages have a long and interesting history in GATT/WTO dispute settlement. I hope Congress keeps this in mind as they consider taxing soda and alcoholic beverages to help pay for health care reform. See here, here and here for details. The last article notes that the soda tax "wouldn’t apply to diet soda or real juice." And with alcohol, there would be separate taxes on beer, wine and hard liquor. So, it sounds like there will be lots of distinctions made between similar products, which always runs the risk of triggering a discrimination claim. As well-known blogger Ann Althouse put it in relation to the soda tax:
It's just sugar. Lots of things are full of sugar. Why single out the watery versions of sugar? And why be so sure that diet soda is not worse? Quite aside from the strange chemicals, diet soda seems to free many people to pig out on other fattening foods. Our terrible obesity problem correlates with the consumption of diet soda, not sugar.
I doubt she was thinking about international trade obligations when she wrote that, but it's not too difficult to imagine how this point could be used as part of the basis for a WTO claim.
