Palpable tension continues at the intersection of tobacco control and trade policy. Through consideration of four major tobacco control-related trade disputes, we suggest how to empower public health proponents in the face of entrenched economic policymaking norms. We argue that a more effective pro-tobacco control message should: (a) seek to be broadly consistent with core principles of the world trading system, (b) boldly assert countries' international commitments to the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, (c) marshal deep scientific evidence, and (d) come from a broad range of actors, including from low- and middle-income countries as well as from other trade policy community members.