This study maps and analyses how tobacco companies leverage American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) chapters globally to advance commercial interests and obstruct public health policies.
We conducted a descriptive, cross-sectional document analysis using systematic keyword searches of AmCham and US Chamber websites, publications and social media, supplemented by tobacco industry monitoring platforms and media reports, to identify country-level instances of tobacco-company membership, leadership roles and tobacco-related policy interventions.
Of 195 countries searched, 103 had AmCham chapters; 80 of these had tobacco-company members, around a quarter had tobacco executives in leadership or advisory roles, and almost 60% had at least one documented activity aligned with tobacco-industry positions. While opposition to tobacco taxation and price measures remained a prominent theme, a substantial and growing share of documented activities involved the promotion of industry-framed ‘harm reduction’ or ‘smoke-free’ narratives, alongside the amplification of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and environmental, social and governance (ESG) initiatives.
These actions undermine implementation of the World Helath Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) Article 5.3, which mandates protection of public health policies from tobacco industry interference. This study builds on earlier work by expanding and updating the landscape of AmCham involvement and providing a systematic global mapping that brings together both historical and more recent evidence on AmCham involvement in tobacco-related policy debates, offering governments and advocates an evidence-based foundation to respond to industry influence, using tools like the Global Resource Database and the List of Industry Actors, which is operated by the WHO FCTC Knowledge Hub (KH) and Global Center for Good Governance in Tobacco Control (GGTC), in compliance with the mandate provided by the tobacco control treaty’s governing body, to document and monitor tobacco industry engagement in AmCham networks