Letter to the editor: China is winning the vape war
· The Washington TimesOPINION:
Even as adult smoking rates have fallen below 10% for the first time in recorded history, 25 million Americans still smoke traditional cigarettes.
Many have turned to vaping as a path away from cigarettes — only to find that legal options are nearly impossible to come by, as illegal products are everywhere.
That gap between supply and demand has real consequences, and our communities are feeling them.
As president and CEO of the United States Hispanic Business Council, I represent more than 4.5 million small business owners, including convenience store owners and neighborhood retailers. They’re hardworking local businesses that follow the rules and want to serve their communities well and legally.
But the regulatory system covering vapes and other alternative nicotine products is so unclear that even responsible retailers struggle to determine which products are legal and which are not.
The Food and Drug Administration has received more than 26 million vape product applications and authorized just 45. Meanwhile, around 85% of the vaping market is now illicit, with the majority of those products coming from China.
When legal supply cannot keep up with demand, consumers don’t simply quit. They find what they want somewhere else — in products with no safety standards, no oversight and no accountability. China has been more than happy to fill that void.
The science points toward a solution. Studies consistently show that flavored e-cigarettes, especially menthol and non-tobacco varieties, are among the most effective tools for helping adult smokers quit. Internal FDA records show that the agency’s own reviewers have recommended authorizing multiple flavored products.
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Authorizing those products would give adult smokers regulated options while taking market share away from illegal Chinese imports.
Our small business community needs to hear a clear, two-part commitment. First, authorize more legal vaping products so adult smokers have real alternatives and law-abiding retailers have legitimate products to sell.
Second, aggressively enforce against the illegal, untaxed and unsafe products undercutting American businesses and flooding our communities.
Congress has already put $200 million behind that enforcement effort, including a Justice Department task force targeting illegal Chinese imports. The resources are there.
President Trump and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. have both said publicly that opening pathways for legal American vapes while cracking down on China is a priority. Now the FDA must match that commitment.
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JAVIER PALOMAREZ
Washington