In June, President Donald Trump’s effort to reduce the number of Chinese vapes entering the United States appeared to be progressing well. Chinese export data showed that in April, the month Trump’s pick for Food and Drug Administration commissioner took over the agency, China exported roughly 7.8 million kilograms worth of vapes and electronic cigarettes to the U.S. By May, that figure had declined to 4.7 million kilograms, falling further to just 2.2 million kilograms in June.
Then, just as FDA Commissioner Martin Makary was announcing the details of an initiative designed to further stem the flow of Chinese vapes, the country’s trade authorities recorded a spike in exports to the U.S. In July, China reported exporting 5.9 million kilograms of vapes to the U.S. That figure continued to rise month-over-month until October, the most recent point for which data is available, when it reached one of its highest levels ever at 14.8 million kilograms in vape exports to America.
Chinese-manufactured vapes and e-cigarettes have attracted the ire of lawmakers and activists owing to their popularity among minors, spurring concerns that they are contributing to nicotine addiction and other health complications, such as cancer and lung disease. To address these fears, former President Joe Biden’s FDA issued floods of warnings and lawsuits to retailers regarding the sale of vapes not explicitly approved by the agency, which included virtually all flavored e-cigarettes manufactured in China.
“CBP is continuously strengthening enforcement against illegal imports of electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS),” a spokesman for Customs and Border Protection told the Washington Examiner. “CBP conducts joint operations with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, coordinates enforcement at both the national and port levels, and utilizes risk analysis, targeting, and enforcement actions to intercept non-compliant shipments. CBP also participates in the Multi Agency ENDS Task Force, leveraging federal resources to coordinate criminal and civil enforcement efforts at the border.”
Despite the ban and enforcement thereof, outlets have been replete with stories about Chinese-manufactured flavored vapes flooding the shelves of smoke shops and convenience stores across the U.S. In fact, a Truth Initiative report from November 2024 found that illegal products made up over 86% of sales as of March that year.
Surprisingly, despite conditions on the ground seemingly staying much the same, U.S. import records as collected by the Census Bureau have shown a precipitous decline in Chinese vapes entering the country since 2023.
In 2023, during Biden’s enforcement surge, the Census Bureau recorded $585.2 million in Chinese e-cigarette imports. In 2024, that figure fell to roughly $333 million, falling again to just $75 million for 2025 as of August. While American statistics tell a story of declining imports, Chinese data paint a very different picture.
Chinese export records show that the country exported $3.1 billion in vapes to the U.S. during 2023, $3.7 billion in 2024, and $2.2 billion as of August 2025. Amid the conflicting trade records, data from the Truth Initiative show that the illicit share of the vape market remained relatively steady between 2022 and 2024. These figures document the manufacturer’s valuation of the goods. After accounting for wholesale and retail markups, the true value of illicit vapes entering the country is much higher than a few billion dollars per year.
Trade data specialists have pointed out that mismatches in customs figures between countries are not uncommon owing to differences in reporting; however, a gap of this magnitude is considered unusual. There are a host of possible explanations for how Chinese manufacturers may be exporting vapes from China, then misleading American customs officials as to the nature of their wares upon import.
In February, for instance, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York published a blog post arguing that U.S. data overestimated the degree to which Chinese imports to the U.S. have declined.
Hunter Clark, a long-time economic adviser for the bank, pointed out that packages worth less than $800 can enter the U.S. duty-free and with light documentation due to the de minimis exemption. Such imports are not included in U.S. statistics and, according to Clark, have seen “explosive growth” in recent years due to increased direct-to-consumer shipping by Chinese manufacturers and intensified tariffs. Trump suspended the de minimis exemption on July 30.
Clark also hinted at more flagrant attempts to dupe American customs authorities, such as Chinese manufacturers deliberately underreporting the quantity of their imports to reduce their tariff bills.
Along possibly criminal lines, a June investigation published by Reuters uncovered a vast network of “middlemen” operating within the U.S. who navigate the customs process on behalf of Chinese vape manufacturers. These middlemen stand accused of lying to officials, or at least failing to conduct due diligence, thus facilitating the flow of illegal vapes into American retailers and homes. Illicit e-cigarettes also often arrive in the U.S. disguised as innocuous items like shoes or toys, further complicating enforcement, according to the FDA.
“The FDA, alongside important key government partners like the Department of Justice, coordinate a federal task force that takes enforcement actions on unlawful e-cigarettes,” a spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees the agency, told the Washington Examiner. “FDA and its task force partners continue to take decisive action, including coordination with U.S. Customs and Border Protection to seize illegal products at the border before they can be distributed into the United States.”
“In the past year FDA actions resulted in a significant increase in operational efficiency and effectiveness, leading to an exponential increase in FDA import refusals: FDA refused over 9,000 tobacco products in FY25 compared to 1,600 in FY24 and 100 in FY23,” the spokesperson added. “Additionally, mis-declared shipments can also subject importers and other entities to additional actions and penalties.”
The Continuing Appropriations, Agriculture, Legislative Branch, Military Construction and Veterans Affairs, and Extensions Act of 2026 directs the FDA to spend no less than $200 million on e-cigarette enforcement, the spokesperson shared. CBP, meanwhile, emphasized in a statement to the Washington Examiner that its officers and its “advanced targeting and analytical systems” are key to the U.S.’s effort to block the importation of illicit vapes.
“CBP uses these decision support tools to compare cargo, and conveyance information against law enforcement, intelligence, and other enforcement data using risk-based scenarios and assessments,” the spokesman said of the systems. “These tools are critical to the identification of potential violative and illicit products that could pose a risk to public safety.”
U.S. officials have indeed seen some success in capturing illicit vape shipments, usually valued in the tens of millions of dollars. An FDA official told Reuters in June that officials have seized $136 million worth of vapes over the past two years. While a sizable quantity, it falls short of the billions of dollars in e-cigarettes that Chinese manufacturers have said they are importing to the U.S. Nearly all the illicit vape shipments caught by U.S. authorities were mislabeled as other goods.
