Public Citizen’s Global Trade Watch
Investor-state dispute settlement system empowers foreign corporations to bypass domestic courts, challenge government’s public interest policies before extrajudicial tribunals and demand compensation. There is increased opposition to the expansion of ISDS through the TAFTA, or Trans-Atlantic Free Trade Agreement, and the Obama administration recently published a justification for its plan to expand the regime. This report addresses these claims, and explains the harm that can be done with this type of agreement.