Trump Administration Backs Down on Tariffs

The news that Donald Trump’s administration has backed down in its trade war with China will be welcomed by the millions of Americans who continue to choose Chinese vapes over the paltry selection of e-cigarettes produced elsewhere.

The drop in the tariff level on Chinese goods, from 145% to a more reasonable 30%, might not bring manufacturing roaring back to the American heartland, but it will see most shipping from China resume. At least, it will for the next three months, or until President Trump has another change of heart.

Despite the vast majority of vapes, particularly disposables, not having federal marketing authorization, the U.S. remains the largest vaping market in terms of revenue. Tariffs of 145-170% on Chinese goods effectively meant a complete halt in trade.

As the vast majority of e-cigarettes are produced in China, if those sky-high tariffs had persisted, American vapers would soon have seen their options dwindle to almost nothing.

I guess that’s one way to deal with the perceived youth vaping problem in the U.S…

While the fact is that no Chinese-made vapes have been given FDA marketing authorization to date, the resumption of more normal shipping levels from China means that vapers who choose to ignore this hurdle are now unlikely to see any stock shortages at their favorite vape retailer.

There could be a small reduction in availability while importers ramp back up to pre-tariff order levels, but a full-on vape drought looks like it has been averted.

Exactly how Trump’s second term will affect vaping in the long term is anyone’s guess. Based on some of his administration’s actions over the past 100 days or so, it would not be a huge surprise if tomorrow he ordered the FDA to authorize marketing approval to every e-cigarette that has previously had it denied.

Equally, he could go completely in the opposite direction and introduce a federal ban on vapes, vaping, and e-liquids, announced in a Truth Social post at midnight on Friday. It would be exciting if it weren’t all quite so hugely unnerving.

The proposed cut of 10,000 FDA jobs is certainly going to make it harder for the agency in charge of vaping controls to investigate and enforce the law on retailers and distributors breaking the rules. It is also likely to mean that any new or in-progress e-cigarette approvals will be halted while RFK Jr’s HHS decides what shape the FDA will have over the next four years.

The agency has certainly been uncharacteristically quiet on the subject of vaping in recent months. The last vaping announcement on the FDA website is now two months old, a press release shouting about how its education efforts had prevented 444,252 American youth (age 11 to 17) from starting to use e-cigarettes between 2023 and 2024.

The fact that there have been no announcements about illegal vape seizures or warning letters since January is either a good or bad thing, depending on your opinion of vaping.