Three U.S. representatives are calling on the Trump administration to crack down on the sale of illegal vape products.
U.S. Reps. Dusty Johnson (R-South Dakota), Select Committee on China Chairman John Moolenaar (R-Michigan) and Ranking Member Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Illinois) sent a letter on Thursday to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, Attorney General Pam Bondi and Food and Drug Administration Acting Commissioner Sara Brenner urging the Trump Administration to take action on the influx of unauthorized Chinese-made e-cigarettes and vapes sold in America.
“The large-scale smuggling of these illicit vaping products —accounting for more than half of all vapes sold in the United States—undermines American public health priorities and contributes to a significant increase in youth vaping,” the letter said.
The importation of these unapproved products, often through deceptive transshipment tactics, also violates U.S. trade laws, the letter said.
“The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is fueling this crisis,” the letter said. “The CCP has banned the sale of flavored e-cigarettes within its own borders yet continues to export these same products worldwide. If these products are deemed unsafe for their own citizens, we must question their efforts to smuggle and sell these products in the United States.”
In June 2024, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and the FDA created a federal multi-agency task force to combat the illegal distribution and sale of e-cigarettes. The congressmen said in the letter that this task force was an “important” step forward, but more must be done.
“It is time to go even further and utilize all enforcement tools at our disposal,” the letter said. “Seizing these products is also an essential step, which currently occurs far too infrequently.”
In January, the FDA, U.S. Homeland Security Investigations and U.S. Customs and Border Protection seized more than 628,000 unauthorized e-cigarette products from a warehouse in Miami. The seized products valued at more than $7 million included mostly flavored, disposable e-cigarettes. All shipments originated in China, according to the FDA.
To date the FDA has authorized 34 e-cigarette products and devices.
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