From our private database of 47,400+ case briefs, written and edited by humans—never with AI.

US—Measures Affecting the Production and Sale of Clove Cigarettes

World Trade Organization
WT/DS406/R (2 September 2011), WT/DS406/AB/R (4 April 2012)

Written by Eric Miller, JD

Facts

The United States government (defendant) enacted legislation that banned clove cigarettes, most of which were imported from Indonesia (plaintiff). The same ban did not apply to menthol cigarettes, which were primarily made by companies within the United States. Indonesia brought a complaint to the World Trade Organization (WTO), arguing that the ban violated the international Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (the TBT Agreement). The United States argued that the ban focused on clove cigarettes because they were smoked primarily by young people, whereas menthol cigarettes were smoked by a wider range of age groups. A WTO dispute-resolution panel considered the health objective of deterring smoking among young people but concluded that the law’s differentiation between clove and menthol cigarettes failed to serve that objective. The panel thus concluded that the clove ban violated the TBT Agreement. The United States appealed to the WTO Appellate Body.

Rule of Law

The rule of law is the black letter law upon which the court rested its decision. To access this section, please start your free trial or log in.

Issue

The issue section includes the dispositive legal issue in the case phrased as a question. To access this section, please start your free trial or log in.

Holding and Reasoning ()

The holding and reasoning section includes:

A "yes" or "no" answer to the question framed in the issue section;
A summary of the majority or plurality opinion, using the CREAC method; and
The procedural disposition (e.g., reversed and remanded, affirmed, etc.).

To access this section, please start your free trial or log in.

What to do next…

Unlock this case brief with a free (no-commitment) trial membership of Quimbee.
You’ll be in good company: Quimbee is one of the most widely used and trusted sites for law students, serving more than 951,000 law students since 2011. Some law schools even subscribe directly to Quimbee for all their law students.
Unlock this case brief Read our student testimonials
Learn more about Quimbee’s unique (and proven) approach to achieving great grades at law school.
Quimbee is a company hell-bent on one thing: helping you get an “A” in every course you take in law school, so you can graduate at the top of your class and get a high-paying law job. We’re not just a study aid for law students; we’re the study aid for law students.
Learn about our approach Read more about Quimbee

Here's why 951,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:

Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 47,400 briefs, keyed to 1,004 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.
AI-generated podcast version of every brief — listen on the go, between classes, or whenever reading isn’t an option. New

Understand your casebook readings in seconds

Use our case briefs to comprehend your casebook readings faster, supplement your notes and outlines, and outshine your peers in class.

Get instant access to over 47,400+ expert-written case briefs in a searchable database keyed to 1,004 law school casebooks.

Start your free 7-day trial