Week of April 21 Regulatory Intelligence Recap

Trade Press and Regulatory Summary:

• China Is Flooding America With Illegal Vapes — And More Than 90% Fly Under the Radar - Dailywire

Over 90% of all Chinese vape products imported to the United States in 2024 were not recorded in American import data, and experts warn that the Chinese products are being deliberately mislabeled to avoid duties and regulations.

Export data from the Chinese Communist Party reveals that Chinese companies sent just over $3.7 billion worth of vapes and e-cigarettes to the United States in 2024. But American import data from the country only recorded roughly $317,792,868 worth of products coming in throughout 2024. Experts say that the massive discrepancy is due to widespread, fraudulent mislabeling that the Chinese use to evade regulations.

Some Chinese shipping companies openly advertise that their shipments of vapes and e-cigarettes into the United States are seldom inspected. Hosto, a company specializing in shipping e-cigarettes from China to the United States, boasted at the 2023 World Vape show that it enjoys a “low inspection rate” when importing products.

The Attorneys General are now asking for the Trump administration to double down on its efforts to curtail the smuggling of these products, including by “prosecuting identified violators and implementing penalties,” a move that they say would “fundamentally alter the risk-reward calculus for both current and prospective participants in the illegal Chinese e-cigarette supply chain.”

• 29 Republican Attorneys General Seek Federal Crackdown on Black Market Chinese Vaping Products - Breitbart

The Washington Reporter reports that the letter is addressed to Attorney General Pam Bondi, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Homeland Security Adviser Stephen Miller, Homeland Security head Kristi Noem, FBI director Kash Patel, Health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and others.

“Illegal, flavored Chinese e-cigarettes are flooding the U.S. market in flagrant disregard of State and federal laws. The products have never been approved by the FDA and target America’s youth,” say the state attorneys general.

“While we are doing our best to fight the problem in the States, its nature and scope are international. President Trump can secure our borders against this influx of dangerous products and hold China accountable for preying on American youth. “

The Republican attorneys general say that only a “coordinated national effort,” including the Department of Justice, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Food and Drug Administration among others can stem the tide of black market Chinese vapes.

• Latest CDC Data Confirms E-Cigarette Use Correlates with Declines in Smoking - Real Clear Health

The latest Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), delivers great news for tobacco control advocates: adult smoking prevalence has reached its lowest level in 60 years. Despite this major public health victory, the CDC—along with Bloomberg-backed organizations—continues to raise alarms over increasing adult e-cigarette use, even though many adults turn to these products as a tool to quit smoking.
This report is yet another example of data being twisted to demonize harm reduction. Policymakers must remain cautious of both Bloomberg-funded initiatives and taxpayer-supported agencies that perpetuate misinformation regarding tobacco harm reduction (THR) products.
Using data from the National Health Interview Survey, CDC researchers found that adult cigarette smoking declined by an impressive 72.6 percent, from 42.4 percent of adults smoking in 1965 to just 11.6 percent in 2022. While this is an undeniable public health success, the CDC chose to focus on smoking trends between 2017 and 2023 to compare e-cigarette use with combustible cigarette use.
Between 2017 and 2023, the prevalence of exclusive cigarette smoking declined by 26.7 percent, from 10.8 percent of adults in 2017, to 7.9 percent in 2023. This translates to 6.8 million fewer adults smoking cigarettes exclusively. Meanwhile, exclusive e-cigarette use increased by 241.7 percent, from 1.2 percent in 2017, to 4.1 percent in 2023 – adding 7.3 million adults to the ranks of exclusive vapers.
Rather than celebrate this shift away from the most harmful tobacco product—combustible cigarettes—the CDC downplays the success by claiming that “current tobacco product use among adults has not changed since 2017.” This assertion stems from the agency’s classification of e-cigarettes as tobacco products, despite the fact that they contain no tobacco leaf. The CDC also calls for Bloomberg-endorsed policies such as tax hikes and smoke-free policies to curb tobacco use—including nicotine use altogether.
Technically, e-cigarettes fall under the FDA’s tobacco regulatory authority due to a 2011 court ruling and 2016 deeming regulations. However, conflating e-cigarettes with combustible tobacco products misrepresents their harm reduction potential. Millions of adults rely on these products to stay smoke-free, yet public health authorities continue to obscure this reality.