From an op-ed by the president of the Burley Tobacco Growers Cooperative Association, in The Hill:
Less than a month after Prime Minister Stephen Harper visited Washington to lecture President Obama about the dangers of “Buy American” laws, his government passed a “Buy Canada” tobacco ban that violates Canada’s World Trade Organization (WTO) responsibilities.
The legislation, C-32, was intended to ban candy-flavored tobacco products, a worthy goal that U.S. burley growers share.
Unfortunately, C-32 morphed into an overreaching piece of legislation that prohibits the manufacture or sale of blended cigarettes that contain burley tobacco. This outcome is especially troublesome because American blend cigarettes are not candy-flavored in any way. The Canadian government conceded this vital fact during Parliament’s consideration of C-32, but it proceeded to target a legitimate American product anyway because small amounts of additives were used to reduce the harshness of the burley tobacco. ...
Given the difficulty the burley folks may be having in getting USTR to take action, I'm wondering if there are any Canadian investments they have made so as to bring an investor-state case under NAFTA Chapter 11.
